Alternatives
by Funygirl38
Summary: An alternate universe to my stories Sacrafice and The Initiative. Maybe Sarah wasn't such a greenhorn, maybe she was an experienced agent... It's only been six months...Loki has just returned to Earth with Thor, for the same reason as in The Initiative, however... She knows all about him, in fact helps to process him when he arrives at Shield...
1. Chapter 1

1.

He stared into the sky, the brilliant shimmer that was the Bifrost etching itself temporarily onto his retinas. He closed his eyes, brought his head back down, then opened them again.

They were surrounded by guards, Thor and himself, though the guards were meant for only one of them. He flexed his hands, the shackles at his wrist clanking softly, and smiled at the nearest guard who looked to be a young man though the body armor hid most physical attributes save height and weight. The winds this high up from the streets far below, buffeted them, throwing Thor's red cloak madly about his body.

"Shall we? I doubt they want me out in the open for long."

Thor glanced at him then at the guards, one of whom turned, opened the landing pad hatch and stepped back to allow the group passage. He took in all as they led him through the lower landing pad and into the building proper. The number they had pushed once on the elevator at the far end of the vast room. The layout of the corridors, the twists and turns they had been taking, the palpable apprehension of the guards escorting him. When they stopped to wait before a door, he fixed with a stare, the young guard he'd first smiled at when they'd arrived, enjoying the look of surprise he garnered when he'd finally caught the guard's eye.

He had been about to ask the guard what he was so afraid of when the door slid open and Thor was pulling him by the arm into a small blue room. Three agents, two men and one woman, stood at a short table stacked with various items and papers. The only other items in the room were two chairs at the far end of the table. Thor guided him along until he was standing before the woman.

"I will talk with you later, see that you do what they say if you wish to remain here, brother."

He glared at Thor, watched him walk out the door with five of the seven guards who had escorted them, leaving two at the doorway watching his every move. The sudden movement at his wrists caused him to pull back with a hiss of breath.

"You want to leave the shackles on, be my guest." The woman put the key back in her pocket, leaned over and wrote something on a piece of paper, then stood back up,

"Now are we ready to have them off?"

He grinned widely, "Do you think you have enough manpower to take them off?"

The woman looked at him curiously, "I'm not going to saw them off, I have a key."

His grin faded into a grim frown, "You misunderstand my meaning, woman. Do you think you have enough manpower to control me?"

The resulting grin on the woman's face took him aback as she took the key back out of her pocket, pulled the centerpiece of the shackle to her and undid the lock, sliding them off his wrists.

He pulled his hands away and rubbed where the shackles had dug into his skin.

"Put your hands on your head, fingers together, palms up." The woman walked closer to him and stood, hands on her hips, waiting for him to comply.

"Will this take very long? I desperately need to relieve myself."

She stared at him.

"Perhaps I should use Midgardian terms, I need to take a piss."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust but simply shrugged, "I would say that depends on you. If you're compliant, this will be over quickly so you just go at your own pace."

He rolled his eyes but assumed the position she asked of him. She took in the simple outfit he wore, a brown tunic tied at the neck, a pair of black breeches and high boots.

"You look like you just stepped out of the Middle Ages." She mumbled as she knelt down, missing the expression of contempt that crossed his face as he gazed down at her.

"Stay still while I pat you down. If I perceive any aggression on your part, I will make sure you go down hard and quick, understood?"

She looked up at him, suddenly chilled by the hard stare of his blue green eyes, angry that she'd faltered, "Understood?"

He nodded once, startled as she began to pat first one leg then the other, flinching when she reached the top of his thighs, drawing her hands around his waist, continuing up his chest, under his arms, smirking when she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach his wrists, unable to resist talking to her when she was so close, "So I'm to be treated as a common Midgardian criminal."

She stepped back from him abruptly, "I would say that is a correct approximation of your situation. Open your mouth."

He cocked his head, started to bring his arms down,

"Leave those hands on your head until I say you can put them down." She had her hand at her pocket again, waiting. He reset his hands on his head with a sneer. "Now open your mouth,"

He complied.

"Raise your tongue so I can see the underside." He again complied, waiting until she turned towards the table to waggle it obscenely at her.

She looked up at him, "Nice manners. Put your arms down and follow me."

He walked behind her to the other end of the table where sat a wide blue pad with a card beside it. "Okay you're going to let me take first one hand then the other and I'm going to take your fingerprints. Once again, I won't hurt you if you won't hurt me."

He chuckled at this, "I've nothing to fear from you. You're a woman, a Midgardian at that."

She grabbed one hand roughly, yanking him forward to the table, "Are you willing to test that theory?"

He watched her press his right thumb to the ink pad and press it to the card afterwards. She took his index finger next, following the same procedure but for the fact that as his index finger touched the card, he moved his finger, smudging the print. She let his hand go and pushed her dark brown hair back from her face.

"We can do this all day if this is your idea of fun, or we can get the niceties out of the way."

He said nothing in reply, stood there and smiled as she took his hand again, pulled out a fresh card and started anew. Three minutes later, she was handing him a baby wipe, "It won't get all the ink but it'll get most of it."

She took a pen from her pocket and clicked it open, "Spell your last name."

"L..A..U..F..E..Y..S..O..N." She finished, filling in his first name without asking.

She picked up the fingerprint card and put it into a fat folder sitting at the end of the table, unclipping a thin metal bracelet with a blue strip running through the center, from the edge of the folder.

"Hold your hand out."

He looked at the thin band, "What is it?"

"This is a perimeter band. If you move outside the set distance for the band, it will trigger an alarm and an immediate response, sort of like the invisible fences for dogs." In her mind she was begging for him to ask her what they were and he seemed happy to comply,

"Enlighten me on these invisible fences. How do they work if they are invisible?" He put his hand out and she snapped the bracelet together.

"Here," She said, taking a small Ipad up from the table and tapping it a few times. "The perimeter is set for three feet from your present location" She backed away from him, could see the guards at the far end of the room smiling at her. "Try to touch me."

He grinned, a cold contrast to the guards behind him, lunged at her and in less than two seconds, was to the floor on his hands and knees, panting for breath, the sharp searing pain that had tensed up each and every muscle in his body, subsiding as quickly as it had hit him. He heard her tapping the Ipad again.

She knelt to one knee before him, "And you engineered all that chaos out there?"

She stood back up, waiting for him to regain his feet which he did, growling at her, "Watch your tongue Sarah Miller," She had been picking up the folder from the table and now turned her head towards him.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "I would not be so condescending if I were you. You have not yet begun to witness what I am capable of."

With each word, he had moved closer to her until now he was standing nearly face to face with her.

She reached up to the Ipad atop her folder and tapped it again.

He felt the life drain from his legs again as his knees buckled, his muscles singing as if he'd been a finely tuned violin with all the strings suddenly cut.

"It also works on automatic." She leaned over him with a tight lipped grin, "Welcome back to Earth, Loki."

2.

Sarah had taken him by the arm and helped him back to his feet, her touch revolting him. He yanked his arm from her grasp as soon as he regained his balance but was forced to put his hand on her shoulder when his legs threatened to give way as he took a step forward.

She shot him a look of pleasure so pure that when before took his hand away from her shoulder, it was with great effort that he held himself back from letting his other hand steal upward to grab her by the head and give it a swift turn, freezing her smile upon her face for all eternity. He would have to think of another way to torture her in the very near future. As a fast option formed in his mind, he smiled back at her.

"Are you ready now?"

He waved at her and she shook her head, "You will walk in front of me. I'll tell you where to go."

They reached the door where he'd first entered the room and it slid open. The two guards who had been waiting quietly on either side, walked out of the room first and waited for him to enter the corridor. Sarah followed closely behind Loki, watching the way he walked, a bounce to his step, a grace in every movement he made, even the turn of his head as he glanced behind himself at her.

"This phrase, "Heaven doesn't want me and Hell is afraid I'll take over" I wonder, was it meant for me?"

Sarah's steps faltered slightly, the phrase itself had been in her mind when he had stepped into the processing room ten minutes earlier but she was a quick wit and refused to show him she'd been thrown, if only slightly, by his revelation, "I think we'd have to change the place names though, don't you think?"

They entered the elevator at the end of the corridor and Sarah pushed the number three on the panel as the doors slid shut. She looked at Loki who was wearing a self-satisfied smirk upon his face. He watched the numbers descend on the window above the panel for a moment, then his eyes slid to hers.

"I would call my step confident if nothing else….and a garden salad seems such a simple meal for one of your means but one can hardly expect a single woman to cook a large…"

"If you don't shut up," She pointed to the Ipad still seated atop the folder, "And stop being so incredibly rude. They'll have to carry you to your quarters."

His smirk faded and he stared at her, "I am forced to wonder how it is that someone can feel so alone in one of the biggest cities on Midgard."

The elevator doors slid open but he hesitated, still staring at her for emphasis, then strode from the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah had taken him by the arm and helped him back to his feet, her touch revolting him. He yanked his arm from her grasp as soon as he regained his balance but was forced to put his hand on her shoulder when his legs threatened to give way as he took a step forward.

She shot him a look of pleasure so pure that when before took his hand away from her shoulder, it was with great effort that he held himself back from letting his other hand steal upward to grab her by the head and give it a swift turn, freezing her smile upon her face for all eternity. He would have to think of another way to torture her in the very near future. As a fast option formed in his mind, he smiled back at her.

"Are you ready now?"

He waved at her and she shook her head, "You will walk in front of me. I'll tell you where to go."

They reached the door where he'd first entered the room and it slid open. The two guards who had been waiting quietly on either side, walked out of the room first and waited for him to enter the corridor. Sarah followed closely behind Loki, watching the way he walked, a bounce to his step, a grace in every movement he made, even the turn of his head as he glanced behind himself at her.

"This phrase, "Heaven doesn't want me and Hell is afraid I'll take over" I wonder, was it meant for me?"

Sarah's steps faltered slightly, the phrase itself had been in her mind when he had stepped into the processing room ten minutes earlier but she was a quick wit and refused to show him she'd been thrown, if only slightly, by his revelation, "I think we'd have to change the place names though, don't you think?"

They entered the elevator at the end of the corridor and Sarah pushed the number three on the panel as the doors slid shut. She looked at Loki who was wearing a self-satisfied smirk upon his face. He watched the numbers descend on the window above the panel for a moment, then his eyes slid to hers.

"I would call my step confident if nothing else….and a garden salad seems such a simple meal for one of your means but one can hardly expect a single woman to cook a large…"

"If you don't shut up," She pointed to the Ipad still seated atop the folder, "And stop being so incredibly rude. They'll have to carry you to your quarters."

His smirk faded and he stared at her, "I am forced to wonder how it is that someone can feel so alone in one of the biggest cities on Midgard."

The elevator doors slid open but he hesitated, still staring at her for emphasis, then strode from the elevator.

"I don't know, I'll have to ask you about that later." She followed him out of the elevator and they walked down the hallway before them until she stopped in front of a doorway.

"You want to turn around now?" She sighed, tapping a code into the panel beside the door which slid open to reveal living quarters. Loki had turned in the hallway, seeing Sarah and the two guards staring back at him, set his shoulders and returned to where they were standing. He peered through the doorway and then at Sarah.

"Go on in," She put her hand out in a sweeping gesture and stepped back to allow him entry. He put his hands on the door frame and leaned in, looking about the room. There was a nondescript dark brown couch to his left with a similarly plain easy chair beside it. To his right, on the wall was a flat screen TV, then a short row of cupboards and a counter with a sink in the middle of it, a small light shining over the sink casting a warm amber glow. A small black metal table with four chairs occupied the far corner of the room. Beside the table was another doorway through which he could see a full sized bed and a small stand beside it.

"Would you please step inside the room so we can finish up here?" He heard Sarah say. He gripped the doorway harder then let go, moving into the living area but making no further advance.

Sarah sat down on the couch and looked up at him, the folder in her lap. "You don't like it?"

"I'm used to far more spacious accommodations on Asgard," He glanced once more around the room. She bit back the reply forming in her head and studied her Ipad for a minute.

"Okay, I've set that little bracelet to the building's perimeter. It looks as if you're under house surveillance for now per Director Fury's orders. No unauthorized excursions." She opened the folder on her lap, took out a stapled pile of papers and held it out to him. When he made no move to take it, she set it on the couch beside her. "There's a layout of the pertinent areas of this building, in other words, the places you can go."

"Do you think me stupid? I understand what you mean." He glared at her but she was still busy with the Ipad.

"We have a cafeteria here for all occupants, it's open twenty-four seven so if you're a night owl, we can handle that too. It's probably a good thing too, after all, I'm sure you've never had to cook a thing in your life, as important as you are…" She looked up at him, paused, "Were.."

The anger that had seated itself inside him, pent up for the last six months he'd had to endure under the watchful eye of Thor and the Warriors three, especially Sif, had finally erupted as he listened to the Midgardian female berate him, a prince of Asgard.

He was before her in an instant, the guards barely able to make two steps towards him before his hand shot out, flinging the Ipad to the floor, then joined with the other in grabbing the front of her uniform, the sound of his palms striking her chest with a dull thud as he lifted her from the couch, loud in the small room, his face now inches from hers, her feet dangling from the floor as she flailed for purchase.

"AM, I AM important you impertinent, irreverent whore! Do not presume to know me. I have cooked many a meal over an open fire while on campaign as a..!"

He gritted his teeth together as the first shock hit him, his body working on pure adrenaline, lips pulled back in pure animalistic rage. The second shock loosened his fingers and Sarah toppled back to sit hard on the couch while he dropped to his knees yet again, hands fisted on the floor.

Sarah was out of breath but managed to gasp, "Their cell phones have an app for that bracelet as well."

His rage had turned to frustration as he knelt there before her. He refused to look up, remained where he'd dropped, his heart racing along with his mind.

Sarah picked up the folder from the floor, inches in front of his hands. Then she picked up the Ipad.

"I'm finished here. You're free to go anywhere but in the restricted areas, though I'd make you stay here in solitary confinement if it were up to me." Then she heard him say the first words that belied some semblance of humanity in him, though his voice was almost too low for her to hear,

"I have been in solitary confinement for most of my life, in one form or another."

She didn't touch him this time, but let him regain his footing on his own, "The bathroom, by the way, is in the bedroom, as I recall you needed one earlier."

He looked behind him into the bedroom, then back at her, contempt first, but something more behind his eyes as he finally trained them down on the floor.

She was almost after thinking she could see sadness but then she reminded herself that he was a consummate liar and a trickster.

"Should have made you piss your breeches,"

She stepped out into the hallway with the guards, waiting for the door to slide closed again, then she leaned back against the wall beside the doorway and let out a great whoosh of air, the guards nodding in agreement.

It was hitting eight-fifteen when she finally arrived before the door to her apartment and dropped her briefcase down with a clunk at her feet. She unlocked the door, grabbed the briefcase up and plodded inside where she flopped down onto her couch, almost too physically exhausted to find something to eat. She propped her briefcase up on her lap and unlatched it. The file on top of the pile she had put inside before leaving the office made her stomach turn, the label at the edge reading, LAUFEYSON, LOKI.

She had read his file from front to back when she heard he was going to be housed on the floor she was responsible for it was the first time in her career when she had disagreed with Fury, directly asking Fury why he was allowing Loki to return to Earth.

"Because his brother seems to think he would benefit from seeing how Earth really is on a day to day basis, perhaps it will give him a better appreciation of humanity, so he says, and frankly we need Thor as part of the team so this is the stipulation we were saddled with. I'm not any happier about it than you, Miss Miller. For what he did to this city, he needs a lot more than six months on probation."

She had heartily agreed with Fury then but after this afternoon, she'd had all she could do not to run to his office and recommend that Loki be shipped right back to Hell where he came from.

She leaned forward and took her jacket off, draping it over the back of the couch, then unbuttoned her shirt and gingerly touched the bruises at her collarbone where Loki had hit her when he'd grabbed her. They weren't dark but they were certainly black and blue. She stood up, gathered her jacket and shirt and brought them into the bedroom where she slipped off her pants, throwing them all on a chair beside her dresser. She unclasped her bra with a sigh, smiled to herself at the thought of letting the girls run free, then donned a t-shirt and pair of shorts and went to the kitchenette to find something for a late supper.

Half an hour later, she was seated on the couch, papers spread around her on the little coffee table at her feet, a BLT sandwich half eaten on a small plate. Her report on Loki's processing procedure had to include everything, his non-compliance, his outbursts of anger, his rude behavior and damn him if she wasn't almost reluctant to make it seem as bad as it had been, then she was reminded that he had called her a whore. Not only had he insulted her but he had either read up on her file himself or the precautions listed in the folder, one of them being that he was a powerful telepath, were all correct. He was incredibly strong, he had certainly picked her up like she weighed nothing and his reflexes were cat-like. She knew he was going to be trouble for her, only trouble felt like the wrong word and dangerous made her just a little bit jumpy. She gathered up the papers and stuffed them back in the briefcase, snapping it shut. She turned out the lights in the living room, checked the door to make sure it was locked, then headed into her bedroom shutting the door behind her.

Loki had watched the door for a long time after Sarah had gone, his thoughts getting blacker by the minute, wondering if being brought back to Asgard in chains, possibly to spend the rest of eternity in a cell watched over by the Imperial Guards was worth it just for the satisfaction of snapping her neck though that pleasure would be over in an instant. He wanted to make her suffer, discomfit her, plague her waking hours if that was what it would take to break her confidence, bring her low enough to cow her into submission, the thought of her kneeling at his feet, begging forgiveness, or perhaps swearing allegiance, though that would be truly miraculous, at once excited him, took the very breath from him. He began to pace the room like a caged animal, trying to find the thread of her consciousness once again though she was too far away in the jumbled cacophony of noise being emitted by hundreds of thousands of other minds in the city.

He stopped, stalked into the bedroom, found the bathroom, finally able to relieve himself though his touch brought to mind other ways to torture the Midgardian female. He swiftly retied his breeches, pushing such revolting thoughts from his mind. He sat down on the bed, a sudden crushing loneliness weighing down on him much like he had felt in Asgard in the holding cell with naught but the mice for company. He lay back on the mattress and closed his eyes, trying to train his thoughts to anything but the human, Sarah Miller as sheer exhaustion overtook him and he gave himself over into the realm of dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

His eyes snapped open and he drew a deep shuddering breath. For a fraction of a second, he couldn't remember where he was, the dream felt all too real. He had been back on Asgard, stripped to the waist, hands chained to the rack on the wall high above him where even he, as tall as he was, could barely keep the balls of his feet to the cold stone floor, the gag hindering him from drawing a full breath and the constriction of his lungs making him ever dizzy. The clink of metal against metal makes him raise his head to see Sif standing outside his cell holding the keys, smiling, and he cringes inwardly, knowing she is not there to observe but to mete out some small part of his punishment.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, wondering how long he'd been asleep, peered about the room until he spied the small digital clock beside his bed.

"Nine o' clock. Did no one question where I was?" He mumbled to himself, stood and stretched, then wandered into the bathroom where he stood, pondering whether to attempt a shower, if he could find the means to turn the water on. A beep in the silence of his quarters made him jump and he poked his head out of the bathroom into the bedroom. Another beep prompted him to walk out into the living room. The third beep drew him to the doorway where he touched the panel like he had observed Sarah doing so the night before and the door slid open to reveal his brother, long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, dressed in black pants and a blue long sleeved jersey, standing there, arms folded.

"Have you just awakened?"

"Ah, I see I was not forgotten after all." Loki turned and walked back into the bedroom with Thor close behind him, "I was after having a shower but not only am I at a loss as to how one turns it on, but I have not a change of clothes seeing as our court dress would look out of place here and my battle armor would alarm everyone….again…."

Thor brushed past him and into the bathroom and Loki heard the sound of running water. He walked into the bathroom where Thor was pushing buttons on a wall panel beside the shower stall. "The temperature is controlled with these buttons here below them are the buttons for the water pressure. To turn it off, you simply press this button here on the panel and the flow of water will stop."

Then Thor was back out into the bedroom where he walked to the wall on the far side of the bed and waved his hand at a small square on the wall. A tall panel slid open to reveal a long closet, dimly lit, with a few items of clothing hung on a long metal pole. He picked a pair of denim jeans and a gray t-shirt, tossed them on the bed and turned back to Loki. "Did the agent not show you these things last night?"

Loki sneered at this, "That vituperative, impertinent bitch? She was only too glad to leave my company as quickly as possible."

Thor came around the bed, "Do not speak so harshly against those who would allow you to return here to Midgard in spite of what you've done. What did you do to her?"

Loki chuckled, "I showed her that I was not a man to be trifled with."

Thor grabbed his brother by the shoulder roughly, "How, Loki?"

Loki shrugged him off, nostrils flaring, eyes blazing, "It is not important, suffice it to say she knows what I am."

Thor grunted, "As do we all, brother. Shower and get dressed, we will eat and then we must meet with Director Fury."

Loki frowned at this. "I can hardly contain my joy."

He stood in the shower, his hands splayed against the far wall, letting the water scour his back and shoulders. He wanted to take as much time as seemed necessary to irritate Fury and he smiled to himself when Thor yelled into the bathroom, "Brother, it nears half past the hour, we will be late if you do not finish your ablutions." Irritating Thor in the process was a bonus but he sighed, reached out to the wall panel and switched off the shower. He toweled off his hair, brushed it back from his face with his fingers, wrapped the towel around his waist and walked back out into the bedroom where he dropped the towel to the floor and picked up the jeans. Thor was leaning against the door frame, arms folded before him. "Your back has healed well brother."

Loki sneered, "The healers should be commended for their skill, I'll give them that." He could feel the edges of the scars at his fingertips, some of them wrapping around his sides, mimicking the lines of his ribcage.

When he had awakened the morning following his arrival back on Asgard, the imperial guards had opened the door to his cell and lifted him from the low pallet he had made as a bed that previous evening, shackled his arms behind his back and had guided him through the corridors below, up through the low, wide double doors into the center of the training arena. He had looked about the stands, at the members of the High Council in the royal box, Odin and Frigga seated at the highest point in short gilded thrones. His eyes swept the benches where high ranking members of the Aesir sat. They had been talking, murmuring quietly but had fallen silent when he had stepped from the shadows into the sunlight.

It was only then that he spied the large post in the center of the arena, the black metal chains dangling nearly halfway down its length to end in two wide black shackles. A groan escaped him, muffled by the gag, still in place as it had been when they had ascended from that accursed realm, Midgard. The imperial guards had taken his arms and dragged him before the post where they loosed the shackles that bound his hands behind him. He felt a tug at the back of his head as the clasp to the gag was released, pulled from his mouth by another guard and he rubbed his face with his hand, the sweat from the confines of the gag slicking his fingers,

"Might I request a flagon of water?" he croaked, coughed. The guards had looked to Odin who had nodded. A servant had swiftly appeared with a small silver stein of ice cold water, handing it to him. He had drained it in one long swallow, the servant waiting with outstretched hands to receive it again. The thump of Odin's staff reverberating through the air turned his attention to the royal box where Odin was now standing.

"Loki, for your crimes against the humans of Midgard and the destruction you have caused upon the city of New York therein, you are first and foremost sentenced to one hundred lashes before the citizens of Asgard, you will then be confined to a holding cell for a period of six months or until a proper course of action to reform you can be formulated."

He had bowed his head, "Father,"

He had then been turned to face the post, his great coat lifted from his shoulders, pauldrons and bracers slipped from his arms, his leather breastplate and metal gorget unclasped, and his under tunic drawn over his head. He had finally stood before the eyes of the Aesir, stripped to the waist, his arms lifted into the air where he felt the cold metal enclose his wrists, the chains chinking with the slightest move.

The doors by which he had entered the arena had opened again and he had peered around the post to see Heimdall striding forward, towards the post. As he passed, he had thrown him a thin lipped smile which had chilled Loki to the very marrow. He had watched over his shoulder as Heimdall had bowed to Odin and then turned to where he stood. He had glimpsed the long black whip at Heimdall's belt when he had passed and now he heard the hiss and snap as Heimdall passed it along the dirt for a few practice turns and he gritted his teeth hard together, forehead to the post, steeling himself for the first blow. He had been unprepared, however, for Heimdall's ferocity and the first stripe across his back had nearly claimed the strength from his legs, the second, third, fourth leaving him gasping for breath, the shackles digging into his wrists as they supported the full weight of his body, by the tenth strike, he had begun to cry out with each pass, fingers digging into the post, fingernails torn ragged by the rough wood, splinters digging into the flesh of his palms. By twenty, he had long ago forgotten the warmth coursing down his back and subsequent warmth between his thighs. By thirty, he had lost consciousness, head canted upwards to the heavens. He had subsequently awakened in the healer's rooms, screaming in agony as they tended the ragged, torn flesh with clear water, applying healing unguents and wrapping him in linen strips. He had taken nearly a month to heal…

"Brother, we must go straight to Fury's office first, the morning repast must wait or we will surely be late." Thor cried, shaking him from recollection. He blinked, looked about the room.

"Come, make haste."

Sarah almost didn't recognize him as they approached the door she had just reached from the opposite direction. She nodded to Thor who had nodded in return, realizing the man standing beside him in the gray t-shirt and jeans was indeed the same man whom she'd had the dubious pleasure of processing the night before.

Loki had shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, it seeming to be the only way he could stop himself from wrapping them around her slender throat and crushing her windpipe. The door before them slid open and Fury stepped away from the opening, "You're just going to stand out here or are you going to come inside?"

They stepped into the office and stood before Fury's desk, the door hissing shut behind them.

"I wanted to have Agent Miller here this morning to corroborate the report I received from her upon her arrival at work. Mister Laufeyson, it appears you weren't here in the facility more than an hour and already you were showing acts of aggression towards my agents, hindering their ability to do their jobs and placing your hands upon them. Now I have allowed you to return here to Earth because it's much safer having you here at S.H.I.E.L.D. under control rather than in Asgard roaming free, looking for trouble."

"And you believe you have me under control, so to speak?" Loki pressed his palms together as if to pray and tapped his fingers to his lips. "You've no idea."

Fury glanced at Thor, "Your brother is going to earn himself a trip back up north." He sat down in his chair behind the desk.

"Director, please, forgive him. He will try harder. This I swear to you." He looked to Sarah who was standing to his left, trying to put as much distance between herself and Loki as was humanly possible. "He wishes to apologize to you for his actions the night before as well."

Sarah had leaned over to stare at Loki and could see the expression on his face as he heard Thor's words. Loki turned and leaned over to stare back at her in sheer disbelief and the whole exchange might have been funny had she not seen the hatred behind those eyes.

Loki looked back to Fury, "Your agent was impertinent and rude to me. She made insulting remarks upon my person. If anyone should be apologetic, I believe it should be her."

Loki glared at Sarah, watching her mouth drop open, thinking to himself how very much he wanted to close it with an uppercut to her chin.

"You were threatening, insulting, and difficult. You lifted me up off the couch for some imagined slight.."

Loki was instantly in her face, making her take a quick step back, once again amazed at how swiftly he could move about with such fluid grace, "Imagined? It was a direct insult upon my person. Would you be so flippant with a royal of this realm? I think not.." She saw him shake as Thor put his hand heavily upon his shoulder,

"Brother, do not make me throw you down here. Apologize and be done with it."

Loki kept his stare fixed upon Sarah but answered his brother, "She must apologize as well."

Sarah was suddenly horrified to find a thought forming in her head as she returned his gaze and she tried swiftly to override it with something, anything else but the immediate change in his expression gave her to the realization that he'd read her again, had seen her thought "He has beautiful eyes", those eyes now narrowing to menace.

"I'm sorry, Loki." She said, her voice a bit shakier than she wanted it to be.

Fury had been watching the exchange, hands templed at his chin, elbows on his desk, "How nice, now it's your turn….come on, you don't want a time out do you?"

The jibe made Loki roll his eyes heavenward and Sarah nearly drew blood, so hard did she bite her lip to keep from laughing at his reaction.

"If it will loose me from the confines of this room and the present company I keep then I have no choice but to comply." He sighed heavily, returned his gaze to her, "Sarah Miller of Midgard, I am heartily sorry for my thoughtless words and reprehensible actions of the evening past…" He paused, then smiled though there was no mirth behind it, "And I thank you."

Fury raised an eyebrow, "Thank you….for what?"

Sarah cringed inwardly, willing him to shut up, wanting to clap her hand over his mouth in that instant,

"Why for the compliment she gave me. Did you not hear it?" He looked at Fury, then at Thor. "Perhaps it was only meant for me. Shall I tell them, my dear or shall it be a secret between us?"

Fury tapped his fingers on the desk before him, "Agent Miller, is there something you would like to share with us or are you going to force us to listen to our guest beat around the proverbial bush all morning?"

Sarah shook her head, desperately hoping Loki would let the matter drop and was startled into a gasp when Loki turned and put his arm around her shoulders, fingers pressing into the fabric of her suit jacket. "Come now, it was such a lovely compliment."

Sarah could see that Director Fury was quickly starting to lose patience and she swallowed hard.

Loki squeezed her shoulders, "Alright, if I must, she's so shy, a truly endearing quality." He leaned towards the desk, his hand shielding his mouth from her as he mock whispered, "She said I had beautiful eyes." He turned to her and fixed her with those same beautiful eyes then turned back to Fury, "Well to be completely accurate, she thought it, that must be the reason no one else heard it." He put a hand to his forehead, "Of course, how stupid of me. After all, there is but one telepath in this room isn't there?" Mercifully he missed her quick nod when he'd said "stupid", as he released her shoulders and stepped back from her, looking smug, arms crossed.

"Is this true?" Fury's gaze bored into Sarah and she was well aware of another pair of eyes watching her as she smiled.

"Sir, Mister Laufeyson is a consummate liar, is he not? I believe this will stand for my answer to the question." She looked at Loki, her own satisfied expression on her face that quickly faded as she perceived how much control it was taking for him not to launch himself at her.

"Loki, we have matters to discuss at the present time, you may be dismissed, as it is.." He peeked at the watch on his arm, "Almost lunch time, I suggest you head for the cafeteria, the special is baked chicken."

Loki didn't move, "Are these matters to involve me?"

"Yes,"

"Then I think I should be allowed to remain here."

Fury shook his head, "I need an unbiased opinion and for that you need to vacate the room. Now if you'd like, I will have your brother escort you or you can walk out of the room on your own, your choice."

Loki glared at Fury, then at Thor and Sarah, turned and stalked out of the room, the door shutting behind him with a hiss.

Thor watched Sarah visibly relax and touched her arm gently. "There are ways to stop Loki from reading your thoughts. I had to learn such tricks growing up with him. You can counter a thought with another thought. If you find yourself in his presence and want to shield your thoughts, make your mind blank, it is not hard to do. I will focus on an object and say its name in my head, barring that, I will think of a color, try green next time he's near you. It takes more effort for him to reach the inner sanctum of your mind, giving you time to alter your path."

Sarah smiled, "He's going to stop doing it regardless, trust me, we're going to come to an agreement."

Fury spoke up then, "Miss Miller, do you realize how dangerous Loki is? You did read the file I gave you, did you not?"

She nodded, "Yes sir."

"If you wish to be reassigned to another floor, I will understand completely. I am concerned that he has taken a special interest in you so soon. He is a mass murderer, Miss Miller, and a megalomaniac. I would like your promise that you won't forget that."

She shook her head, hesitating for only a fraction of a second. "I promise to take extreme caution when dealing with Mister Laufeyson."

"Alright, well now that he's here, we need to find something to keep him occupied a job here in the offices, maybe, nothing where he could have access to restricted information of course, any suggestions?"

Sarah held her hand up, "He'd make a hell of an interrogator." She saw Thor smile quickly.

"Could he help with food preparation?" Thor suggested,

"Knives and forks…..I don't trust him enough for that." Fury glanced around the room as if trying to find a suggestion somewhere in the ether,

"I guess butcher is out then." Sarah mused, garnering a snicker from Thor and a chuckle from herself in response.

"All kidding aside," Fury paused, "I don't want him getting agitated, I want him busy, call it reprogramming if you want. I think he could benefit from a little of what we call normal here on Earth…or maybe I'm just pissing up a rope. He's going to have to earn privileges here. What about an errand boy, he could deliver the mail each day, run internal errands?"

Thor put his hand to his chin, "He would learn the layout of the building, perhaps even garner a friendship or two."

Sarah snorted at this and was immediately brought to task for it.

"My brother is not above compassion, Miss Miller, he has saved my life many a time. I have seen a true tear course his cheek. I believe he could, with time, come to love and be loved by another, though the general consensus believes otherwise."

Sarah closed her eyes, "I meant no disrespect, I'm sorry."

Once again she felt Thor's gentle touch on her arm, "Do not be so vexed, I love my brother but he has tried me grievously for many years. I still hold out hope for him as foolish as it may seem."

Fury stood up from the desk, "Okay, then it's settled? Miss Miller, you will escort Loki to the mail room in the morning and help him get started. Last chance to change your assignment."

When Sarah didn't answer, Fury nodded, "Okay then, you guys go ahead and get some lunch. Thor, you can deliver the good news to Loki."


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah had hung back a few steps behind Thor when they entered the cafeteria, trying to find Loki in the mass of agents and office workers sitting at the tables in the vast room, finally spying him, brooding over a bottle of water, eyes downcast to the table before him.

"Brother," Thor pulled out a chair from the table and bade Sarah sit. She tried to shake her head but Thor took her by the elbow and guided her down.

"I will fetch us food, and then we may talk." To her horror, she watched Thor navigate his way through the crowd towards the food tables at the far side of the room, then chanced a glance at Loki who was staring at her, as she had expected.

"He is ever the gentleman, the golden boy." Loki mumbled, taking a swig of his water.

"What's wrong with being a gentleman?" Sarah countered.

Loki remained silent, eyes now trained again at the surface of the table.

Sarah sighed then, putting her hands onto the table, studying her fingernails, "Did you eat?"

His eyes flickered to hers then away, "No."

She started to ask why but was cut short.

"Because the hunger within me at this very minute cannot be satisfied by food or drink." His hand shot out to cover hers, "It can only come from the ability to make your life a living hell so long as you remain my keeper," He paused, "Since killing you seems not to be an option." The smile he proffered her would have been enough to melt the deepest snows if his eyes had not remained cold and hard.

From across the room Thor happened to glance in their direction and was pleased to see that they seemed to be talking, surprised by his hand atop hers, but still pleased.

She yanked her hands away from his, narrowed her eyes, "Are you serious? Are you really that crazy?" She whispered fiercely.

His smile faded little by little until it had disappeared. "Perhaps Fury is right, you should reconsider his offer to reassign you." He was taken aback when she slammed her hands on the table making people around her turn and look,

"Okay, you little shit," She growled, "We're going to play a game, it's called "better the devil you know" I certainly can be reassigned, and I can recommend one of my fellow agents to take my place. I know a man right now who would love to take care of you. Your little stunt half a year ago killed his brother who worked in one of the buildings downtown that were destroyed by those flying whales, whatever they were. In fact, I will march right back to Fury's office and ask him for immediate transfer. I guarantee within forty-eight hours you'd be at my cubicle on your knees begging me to help you."

Loki laughed aloud but it was halfhearted.

"I will remain assigned to you.."

"You're ever so gracious," Loki mumbled.

",If you stay out of my damn head. I am generally honest and if you ask me what I'm thinking, I usually tell you unless it's none of your business."

Loki sat back in his chair, "But my dear, your mind practically invites one to enter, the doors are always thrown open and there's so much room inside.."

Sarah was three feet from the table when she heard Loki behind her, "Hold…wait," She whirled around aware that they were now attracting more than a little attention, "Sit down."

She shook her head, she could see Thor starting back for the table with two trays.

"What about a truce?"

She waited.

"I will endeavor to keep from your thoughts. You will treat me with more respect. Is that too much to ask?"

"You have to earn respect. You can't claim it by birth alone, not here, and I can't trust you." She started to turn away again.

"Please?"

The word took the wind from her sails quickly and she turned yet again to him in time to see Thor place the trays on the table.

"M'lady, you must eat, sit." He pulled the chair back out for her and she sat down again, but didn't touch the tray in front of her.

"I am glad to see the two of you talking." Thor enthused, picking up the breast of chicken and tearing into it. "Loki, we have found work for you here in the offices. It will occupy your time, perhaps it will help you to rehabilitate as well."

Loki said nothing until Thor continued, "You will be an errand boy. You will take supplies to the offices as needed, deliver mail, run for items upon request,"

Loki reached over and gripped Thor's sleeve, "Do you mean I am to be a common servant?"

Thor nodded, "If you must see it that way then so be it. Tomorrow morning Sarah will be down to fetch you and show you what you are to be doing."

He put his forehead in the palm of his hand, "I am in hell, truly."

Sarah stood and excused herself, "I'm going to get something later. I have a lot of work to do and I've blown the morning for the meeting." Thor stood, dragging Loki with him,

"Then we will speak with you later, Miss Miller."

She gave a small smile to Thor and quickly walked away.

"Did you manage to make progress with Miss Miller, brother? Will you try to be more agreeable."

He grunted, pushed the tray away from him and stood back up. "I will eat later as well. I need to be alone."

Thor watched him go, shrugged, took his brother's uneaten lunch and began to tuck in.

Loki heard the beep and burrowed down deeper under the covers. Another beep, then another. He threw the pillow over his head.

Sarah put her hands on her hips, feeling for the familiar side pocket of her suit jacket, remembered she'd worn her regulation training v-neck shirt and running pants today, planning on visiting the gym after her shift. She reached up where she draped her lanyard around her neck and took a small card in her hand, passed it over the panel beside the door and entered Loki's quarters. It was quiet and she almost wondered if he'd left without her until she peered into the bedroom and could just make out his form beneath the covers.

"Lights, half power." She said and the track lights in the ceiling cast a cool glow into the bedchamber.

"Loki," she put out her hand, steeling herself for any retaliation, and shook his shoulder, receiving not a blow to the chest or a loud shout, in fact, he did nothing but pull the covers tighter around him with a groan.

"We're going to be late if you don't get up." She shook him again, this time getting the reaction she expected as he pulled his arm from under the covers and swung it in a wide arc.

"And if I am, what then?" He mumbled into the pillow. "Will they cast me out of here?"

"They might, want to risk it?" She pulled at the covers, "Come on," pulled again and they slid from his back.

"Oh shit, what the hell happened to you?" She blurted it out before she could stop herself.

Loki rolled over, swung his legs to the floor and stood up, catching her off guard as she backed up, leaning over her, wanting, begging her to hit the perimeter bracelet again. He would build up a tolerance to it one day and on that day, she would never know what hit her. She put her hands to her face and turned around,

"Jesus Christ, could you have waited until I left the room? Next time tell me you're naked."

He waved his arms in a sweeping gesture, "You wanted me up, and I live only to do your bidding."

She pointed to the closet across the room to her right, "Get a button down shirt and a pair of black slacks out of there, I'll have to stop and get you some shoes on the way, those boots won't work. Goddamn it. Warn me next time."

She left him to dress and sat on the couch, irate when he didn't bother to close the bedroom door and she was forced to keep her gaze focused on her lap. "The body of a god, holy hell." She thought to herself, wincing as she realized where she was, she tried to think of the color green, soothing, cool, calm and when he didn't come striding out into the living room red with rage, she relaxed, certain he hadn't 'heard' her.

He stood in the bathroom, fingers poised above the fourth button as the words echoed in his mind. For the briefest moment, he was at a loss. She was a mere human female but the thought that she'd not been revolted, that she'd possibly even appreciated what she had seen, served to build that familiar aching throb between his loins to a fever pitch and he leaned against the counter before the mirror in frustration and anger, willing it to pass quickly.

"I'm leaving in two minutes." She called to him. She stood up from the couch and moved to the door just as he walked into the living room.

"Woman, you would make the gods weep." He sat on the couch and pulled on his boots and straightened his pant legs over them.

"Lead on, master." He bowed slightly to her and they stepped out into the corridor. Sarah turned to the right to head towards the elevators but sensed he wasn't behind her. She turned around and was right, he was, in fact farther down the corridor, his hand reaching for a panel on the wall.

She broke into a trot but was too late as the door to Lab 3 slid open. Doctor Banner whirled around at the sound just in time so see Loki, then Sarah coming up behind him. Loki was not looking at Banner or at Sarah, however, he was looking at the scepter, sitting in a cradle on a metal examining table before him.

"Loki, come on." Sarah said, her hand reaching into the pocket of her running pants, searching for her cell phone.

Banner caught her eyes and grinned reassuringly. "Here to visit an old friend?" he glanced at Loki.

Loki put his hand out to the scepter, causing them both to tense up, waiting, but he never made contact with it, his fingers splayed out in the air above it.

"It has changed." He murmured, "It is no longer a weapon." He closed his eyes, opened them, "It is a port key."

Banner walked over to him, "What do you mean, how has it changed?" He held up his tablet, ready to type. Loki stared at Banner, "The green menace, I wonder that I did not feel you so close by. Perhaps I am sorely out of practice. I mean that the scepter can create a portal when held in hand. I would not touch it without proper protection.

Loki turned away from Banner and the scepter, the spell broken, and walked out of the lab without another word. Sarah shrugged to Doctor Banner, "I'm sorry. I'll get the security code on the door changed, alright?"

Doctor Banner watched them as they left and then glanced at the scepter, "Right down the hall, comforting."

Sarah managed to find Loki some shoes in the uniform room. When they got to the mail room, she stood there watching the organized chaos that was doing its little dance in preparation for the day, then signaled for a short, balding but trim dark haired man to come over to her.

"Raul, this," She almost considered giving him a different name but figured it wouldn't really matter, when you worked at S.H.I.E.L.D., it was hard to keep something like this a secret for long, "Is Loki. He's going to be working here in the mail room and doing errands around the office. I'll stay with him today, help him get the hang of where to go and what to do."

Raul looked from Loki to Sarah and back, "Okay, Miss Miller, anything you say."

She expected but wasn't prepared for the amount of stares and whispers they received as office workers, agents and technicians alike took their mail from Loki's hands. He was silent most of the day, his countenance belying nothing but a determined resignation to his lot. She was pondering speaking to Fury about a quieter, less confrontational line of work by lunch time when they took a table off to the side of the cafeteria, Loki kicking off his shoes and leaning back in the seat.

" 'Tis a wonder your kind does not die of boredom." He moaned, stretched, then unwrapped the salad he'd chosen.

She sat across from him with the same dish and was struck how much he would look like just another office worker were it not for his long black hair reaching past the collar of his shirt and his protracted height, there was something else too that made him stand out but she was unable to put her finger on it.

They ate in relative silence and she began to truly relax around him, finally for the first time since he'd arrived.

Feeling confident, she said to him, "You never told me the answer to my question in your quarters this morning."

He took a long swallow of water and looked up at her briefly, "I did not feel the need to."

Sarah frowned, "Okay,"

He was quiet for a few more minutes, "As part of my punishment for my actions here on Midgard, I was forced to endure one hundred lashes before being imprisoned for six months until my brother had the ingenious idea that bringing me here to Midgard to serve the humans might make me empathize with them."

"One hundred lashes, that's inhuman." She thought about what he had done here that constituted inhumane but pushed it from her mind for the sake of keeping him calm and rational, unable at this point, to see him and the monster that wished to take over the whole of Earth as one and the same, sitting as he was in front of her at that moment.

"And there you have it,"

Sarah cocked her head, "Your DNA is the same as ours, the properties may be different, maybe it's a bit stronger than ours but essentially we're the same."

She could see she'd crossed the line yet again as he balled his hands into fists, "We are as different as night and day, heaven and hell.." At least he was keeping his voice low, "There is no comparison."

She shook her head, in for a penny in for a pound, "Yes there is, I have the same DNA, bones, muscles, tissue, I bleed the same color as you, you're simply practicing racism on a higher level."

Loki looked at her, shook his head, and finished his water, "I don't see it."

But Sarah had already stood up and was walking towards the garbage can. Loki closed his eyes, pursed his lips in frustration and followed suit, trying to catch up with her.

She was already in the hallway outside the cafeteria when he caught up to her, "Will you slow down woman?"

"Will you speed up, man?" She retorted, kept her pace up to the elevator.

"Do you hold your American president on the same level as yourself?" He asked her as they stepped into the elevator.

"Of course not, he holds a higher office," Loki seemed about to speak but she held up her hand, "But, he is also human. I'm not talking about rank here though, I'm talking about the basic makeup of a human being, molecules, atoms, the stuff of the universe. You prove to me that you're physically different than me and I'll believe you."

"And how would you have me do that?" He crossed his arms and stepped back.

"You know what, I don't care if you're made of unicorn horns and bubble gum. I'm starting a headache so let's just focus on work for the remainder of the afternoon." She closed her eyes, put her hands to her temples and rubbed them. Suddenly two hands were pulling hers away. She opened her eyes, felt his hands on her face, thumbs at her temples. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be concentrating.

She began to feel a curious drawing sensation, like something being pulled from the center of her mind, the pain subsiding until it vanished completely. Loki took his hands away from her face as the door to the elevator opened to the supply floor. "Can you do that?"

Sarah shook her head, mute.

"We are different,"


	5. Chapter 5

After the first day with Loki, she had let Raul take over. She believed she had earned a well-deserved break from the intensity that Loki brought with every encounter and for nearly two weeks, she only saw him if there was something he had to bring to her office. She began to think that maybe this was what he'd needed, something to ground him in the mundane, but on the other hand he seemed diminished somehow. She had to consequently admit to herself that even if the orders were to treat him like anyone else, albeit with extreme caution, that the job he'd been given didn't quite suit his bearing.

Those thoughts were still weighing on her that Monday as she stood in the back yard at her sister Lizzie's in Far Rockaway, a beer in hand.

"Hey space cadet." Charlie poked her with the handle of the spatula he had in hand.

Sarah smiled, "Sorry, thinking about my job."

Charlie held up the spatula as if to swat her like a fly, "What are the rules around here on holidays?"

Sarah smiled wider, "No talking shop, all work and no play makes you crazy."

"And today is?"

"Memorial Day…"

"See? Holiday."

Any time spent with Lizzie, her husband Charlie and nephew Daniel was a bonus in her book. Charlie had to be the most understanding husband in the world, in fact. When Lizzie's ex-husband, Daniel's dad had been killed in the attack on New York, she had been devastated even though they'd been split for five years. He'd still been a big part of Daniel's life. Charlie endured the crying, the grief, the denial just like a trooper, like the agent he was and then they moved on as a unit, a family.

"Okay no shop talk but I have to ask, how are things at Stark Tower?"

Charlie shrugged, "They're coming along. The repairs are finished. Mr. Stark wants me to personally accompany him on his business trip next week. We're jetting to Hawaii for some sort of stockholders meeting. He told me to bring Liz and Daniel, make it a vacation."

Lizzie sidled up to Sarah and she took the opportunity to punch her in the arm, "You didn't say you were going to Hawaii. I am jealous!"

Lizzie laughed, "I didn't know I was either until last night so I get a punch back." She slugged Sarah on the shoulder.

"Chuck amok, dad wants to know when to bring out the chicken."

Charlie looked at the grill, "Anytime I guess, don't know what he's waiting for in the first place."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "You know dad, grill has to be perfect."

Sarah walked back into the house with Lizzie. Her mother, Annie, was in the kitchen her father who was heading out with a tray of chicken thighs and breasts, the barbecue sauce in his pants pocket. "Coming through!"

Sarah held the door for her father, "Thanks Sarah Bean."

She pulled up a chair to the kitchen table and grabbing a knife, started to cut the celery that was sitting on the cutting board. Her mother pushed the salad bowl towards her. "So I asked you earlier how work was and you didn't tell me. How is it?"

"It's fine. I've got a new resident on my floor that I've been assigned to." She was reluctant to give his name just in case but the general populace of New York had been unaware of Loki's part in the attempted invasion last summer due in large part to the fact that he'd spent almost all his time at the top of Stark tower. That and the fact that nearly all footage had been confiscated from any video surveillance camera, cell phone, tablet, etc. until all that survived was whatever hadn't been posted on the internet in the first place. However, Charlie was an agent and he would know all about him.

"Oh, a new worker?" Annie nodded, "Boy or girl?"

"Boy," She said, steeling herself.

"Nice looking? Your age?"

Sarah glanced at Lizzie and was startled to see her staring back, a semi-serious look on her face.

"I don't know, I think he's around my age. I never asked."

"But is he good looking?"

Sarah sighed, "I guess. He's tall, dark hair, blue green eyes…he's okay."

She glanced again at Lizzie but she'd returned her concentration to the potato salad she was mixing at the far end of the table.

"Annie!" She heard her father yell from the back porch.

"Dan, geez, we're not a mile away, what?" Annie dried her hands off on the hand towel in the middle of the table and walked to the back door, Lizzie taking the opportunity to sidle up to Sarah.

"They gave him to you?"

Sarah didn't turn her head, "Him who?"

"Chuck told me there was something big happening at your office last month. Someone they had to have under heavy guard and then he got the word it was Loki."

Sarah felt the rush of adrenaline as she said his name, "Oh?"

"Yes, oh," She leaned closer to Sarah, "Did they assign him to you or are you going to make me guess?"

Sarah picked up a pile of celery and dumped it into the bowl, looked at Lizzie, "Don't tell mom okay? Please, she'll have a heart attack."

"I can't believe they gave him to you." She was now whispering, gripping Sarah's arm tightly. "You read his file didn't you?"

Sarah sighed, "A hundred times over."

"What's he like, is he crazy? Has he been hard to control?"

She shook her head remembering his hands on her face, how easily he could have killed her right then.

"No," She lied, "he's arrogant, self-serving, thinks he's better than us. Typical man, I'd say. Now, you know, let's get on with the fun, no more shop talk."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Now you sound like Chuck."

The corridors were quiet, offices mostly empty. He stood at the large picture windows in the library, a book face down on a long couch beside him. If he tried very hard, he could almost trace the path of destruction the Chitauri had followed around the ensuing buildings. He took two steps to his left, looked up at Stark tower, throat stinging as he swallowed hard. Everywhere he went in the building, people knew him. Though he made every effort not to speak to anyone, the reaction had been mutual and except for Raul who had no choice but to interact with him, being his boss, thank you's were about the only words he heard all day.

Today was the same, though mercifully the people were gone, even Thor had gone to meet up with that woman, Jane. Away on a holiday they had called Memorial day. He hadn't bothered to ask what it was, what it meant, instead looking it up in a book of holidays he'd found here in the library. He glanced down at the pavement forty stories below, wondering if even that would end his eternally damned existence. Loneliness closed in on him like a crushing weight mingling with anger, it was a bitter pill to take, that he was the cause of his own distress. He cast his mind out, searching for her, knowing he was breaking his promise but desperate to dispel the darkness in him but she was too far away from him, lost in the ether. He put his hand to the glass, a tear slipping from his chin to the lapel of his shirt.

Raul watched Loki that morning and sighed. He hated coming back from vacation needing another one to recover from the one he'd just taken. Loki was tense, he could see it in the set of his jaw, in the way he set the mail into the bin on the cart with a dull thud.

"You gonna break those bins, man." He gestured to him, receiving no reaction save another thud.

"What's on your mind, amigo?" Raul moved closer, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"I am restless, my mind has been dulled by such mundane activity. I will forever be fascinated by the fact that you are able to do the same thing, every day, every year, until you simply cannot anymore, wearing yourself down."

Raul peered at him, "You're a ray of sunshine aren't you?"

Loki kept loading the bin.

"I don't know what they let you do around here and hey it's none of my business but if you really need to blow off some steam, there's personal training rooms on sub level 5. It's where the agents go to exercise, sometimes the big guns too."

Loki looked up at Raul, "I will ask Fury today. If I do not find an outlet soon, I fear I may go completely mad."

Raul nodded, "Please check into it then. No going postal here okay?"

"Postal? I do not understand the reference."

Raul waved at him, "Never mind, just go talk to Fury."

He was struck by how familiar the training room seemed to him and then it hit him as he looked through the thick glass in the exterior door into the interior. It was very much like the holding cell on the helicarrier. This room however, was bigger, with benches recessed along one side and a large wall panel at one end. He had stripped to his waist, donning a pair of white cotton pants that he had procured from the uniform room on the way in. The attendant had given him the rest of what she called the gi, but he set it down in the entry way, preferring unrestricted movement when working with the bo staff Fury had reluctantly allowed him use of.

"A staff, what harm can I possibly do with such a puny weapon?" he had cried when Fury had at first resisted.

"Even the weight of a feather can tip the scales out of balance, but since you've been a good boy, you may have a treat."

He'd bitten down hard on his retort, instead bowing himself from Fury's office, eager for the end of the day.

He walked into the vast room and did a few laps around the perimeter to get his heart rate up, then proceeded to the center of the room to stretch, his muscles screaming out in protest at being neglected for so long. He leaned over one leg first, reaching to his toes, then the other, sweat already beginning to bead upon his skin. After about ten minutes, he felt limber enough to start practicing but something was missing. It was much too quiet. He turned to the wall panel, the attendant had said something about a stereo system in the panel, she'd then simplified it, saying that one could have music playing while they practiced. She'd showed him how to work the panel in her office and now he stood before the panel in the training room. In the little window above the pad, it read in small blue letters, "Rogers, current playlist". Loki smirked, the super soldier. "Let's see what pleases him."

He hit play and was rewarded with a heavy beat, the words changing in the panel to read "Soundgarden-Live to Rise" He hit the volume higher and walked back out to the center of the room, twirling the staff before him, then around behind himself, turning, performing a side to side strike, upward, cross, his movements becoming more fluid, conjoined, his mind bringing forth invisible enemies. He smiled as the music changed tempo, becoming stronger, harder. Rogers had surprisingly good taste, he'd expected something much more tame, perhaps patriotic. He could feel his arms and legs burning, he bared his teeth, extending his bo staff outward with a thrust and a cry, "Hah!"

Sarah extended her arms, palms outward, with a slow exhalation, then brought her arms out and down to her side. She took another deep breath in, raising her arms, palms downward until they were even with her shoulders, and let the breath out slowly, relaxing her spine, vertebrae by vertebrae until her spine was completely relaxed, with another breath, bringing herself back upright and erect.

A sudden pounding beat reverberated through the chamber, not quite heard so much as felt. She paused, then tried to continue, setting her hands at her waist, palms outward, breathing in as she brought her hands up to her chest, trying so hard to concentrate on her music, finally putting her hands on her hips as the music got even harder, louder.

She exited the training room and trotted up the stairs to her left, knocked on the door to the monitor room which slid open. She stepped inside and one of the technicians on duty, a young blond girl, turned to her. "Agent Miller, can we help you?"

Sarah gave a tight smile, "I just want to know who's in the rooms near mine. I was trying to do my Tai Chi workout and they have their music so loud that it's vibrating the walls."

She stared at the monitors before her, then stopped at monitor three, watching the occupant swing his staff around, parry, upward strike, his face a mixture of joy and rage, his movements graceful, balanced as if he'd been taught by some twisted ballet teacher. She noticed something entirely different about him then, he'd cut his hair shorter. Gone were the long tresses that had touched nearly to the center of his back, now his dark hair rested just to his shoulders in loose waves though now it was plastered with sweat to his neck and face. Her heart started to hammer just a bit harder in her chest as she continued to watch him, unaware that the technician was staring at her then at the monitor, back and forth. Suddenly she saw him stop and stiffen upright as if he had heard something, he turned his head to the left, then swiveled around, looking up at the video camera, a slow smile spreading across his face. He put his hand up, gesturing with his fingers, curling them toward himself, a challenge?

She stepped back, had she been thinking of him? She couldn't recall, she had been watching him, her thoughts had been all over the place then, had she formed a single coherent idea in her head except for the fact that she'd been unable to look away from him.

The technician turned away from the monitor once more to look at Sarah but she'd already left the room.

Sarah walked into her training room and hit the stop button to the music on the panel, leaning against the wall for a moment, trying to catch her breath, thinking of anything, her mother, sister, the red dress in her closet, anything but him, everything but him. She turned around, intending to get her clothes from the uniform room and go home for the evening but was brought up short, a squeak escaping her lips as Loki stood before her, chest heaving with each breath, staff held loosely at his side. She couldn't move, her feet seemed rooted to the spot.

"I broke our promise, Sarah." His words came breathless, low, "Forgive me, but your mind spoke so clearly to me." He took another step closer, she could feel the heat coming from his body now, his scent close enough to permeate her whole being, she kept her eyes trained on his shoulder, the only safe place she dared to look.

She saw his arm move, hand hover at her shoulder, then move to her chin, fingers feather light as he guided her face upward to look into his eyes. "What has happened to us?"

Sarah pulled away from his touch, averting her eyes from his face, stepping back. "Nothing has happened. Please don't talk like this."

"No," He moved forward again, her back was nearly at the wall, "You are different, there was something more you were able to keep hidden from me, what was it?"

He put his arm out, hand splayed out at the wall and she was reminded in that moment as he towered over her, just how easily he could overpower her if he felt the need to and at this point she wasn't so sure she would resist. She bit her lip hard knowing he'd heard her yet again as his arm dropped to his side and he finally backed away from her, face a mask of confusion, looked down at the floor, then turned and strode from the room.

She slid down the wall beside the panel until she was sitting on the floor, hands in her lap, trying to catch her breath. She heard the intercom click on and the voice of the technician.

"Are you alright Agent Miller?"

She swore under her breath, of course they had been monitoring everything in the room, at one point she had fully expected him to kiss her, had wanted it. She banged her head against the wall, wishing she could bodily knock out the thought she'd just entertained, instead, filling her mind with the image from the files, of a crazed, psychopathic killer, standing in full regalia at the end of the walkway at Stark tower.

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

"I'm fine!" she shouted to the room, "Fine!"

Loki hadn't even bothered to grab his clothes, instead simply walking to the elevator and getting aboard. Two agents in the elevator who had been chatting when the doors opened, stopped and stared at him for the entire ride to the third floor, but his mind was too agitated even to form words.

He strode into his quarters, pacing back and forth, trying to keep his mind from her, mad with desire, shocked and repulsed at his need to possess a human female. He walked into the bedroom, shedding the white cotton pants, tossing them to the floor. He lay down upon the bed, staring at the ceiling, still feeling her thoughts, the way she was trembling at the center of her body, the scent of the perfume she'd been wearing and underneath, the scent of her skin. He sat up then, walking swiftly into the bathroom, then back out to the bed, his hands brushing his hair from his face. He sat down again on the bed and lay back, taking himself in hand, began a slow stroke, a rhythm to match what he could see in his mind, of Sarah poised above him, her hands gripping his shoulders, fingernails digging into flesh, he deep inside of her, her cries rising above his own as they joined together in passion, the taste of her skin on his tongue, teeth grazing her collarbone, the perspiration at the hollow of her throat, his arms locked around her back as they met in a hard breathless kiss, driving him to spend himself into her, captured by her silken flesh, her hands entangled at the back of his neck.

He opened his eyes, taking deep breaths, willing his heart to stop pounding, frustrated and humiliated further still by what she'd brought him to. As he rose and stalked into the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping inside it, he knew he must avoid Sarah Miller at all costs or jeopardize his place here on Midgard though with her being assigned to him, it would be statistically impossible. If that were not a possibility then he would have to make her wish for, beg for reassignment from the hell that was the God of Mischief. He groaned and leaned his head against the shower wall as the water coursed over his body.


	6. Chapter 6

She sat on her couch, head in her hands as she replayed over and over in her mind the incident in the training room. It wasn't a possibility that she would be called into Fury's office for an explanation to what had happened, it was a definite date, probably when she got to work the next morning, in fact. The ringing of the phone startled her and she picked it up. It was Lizzie. She didn't answer it though. She didn't feel like talking to anyone, or in the very least no one she should be talking to in the first place.

She'd never had an encounter as intense as what had passed between her and Loki, not in her whole career, the strange thing being that she still had no idea whether he meant to kill her or kiss her because killing would have made perfect sense, kissing would have been sheer madness.

She stood up from the couch, went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine. She reached up to the cupboard for a mug, poured herself a cupful and sat down at the small island in the kitchen and sighed to herself, "Now is probably a good time to request a transfer."

The office was bustling that morning. In her assignment folder was an appointment in the city for crowd control at a gala being thrown by Tony Stark in three weeks' time. She was going as interior undercover which meant that she could wear something besides the monkey suit, maybe a nice dress. She was filing the appointment in her phone when her office phone beeped. "Agent Miller,"

"Agent?" It was Fury's voice, "I'd like to see you in my office at your earliest convenience."

"I'll be right there sir."

She shook her head, it was going to be an extremely long day.

"I've watched the video a number of times Miss Miller. It is my belief that he cornered you. Would that be a correct assumption?"

"Sir, it looks very much like that but I was never in harm's way, if that is your question."

"Well," Fury leaned back in his chair, "I want to know if I need to speak with him about personal boundaries and privileges."

"I don't believe discipline is necessary sir, however, I would like to request a transfer to a different floor. I have the request in writing, at my desk."

Fury shook his head, "All transfers are on hold until after the gala. The agent list is already set in stone and since you're on the list, I can't consider it at this time. Miss Miller, I can transfer Loki to a different floor, however."

"No, he's settled in his rooms. I don't want to uproot him, it wouldn't be fair. I'll be fine."

Fury sat forward and put his arms on the desk, "Miss Miller, you don't need to give him any quarter. He's here depending on my good graces and if he's making one of my agents uncomfortable, I want to know."

Sarah stood from the chair in front of his desk. "I'll be sure to inform you if I feel threatened in any way."

It took until Friday for her to see him again, at the far end of the cafeteria sitting with Thor at a table. They seemed to be in a heated discussion and she wondered if Fury had called him to his office despite her protests. She got in the lunch line, her intention to get her lunch and bring it to her cubicle as she had been doing all week. She chose a vanilla yogurt, an apple juice, and a bagel with cream cheese, paid the cashier and was nearly to the doors when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turned.

"M'lady," Thor said, "Would you grace us with your company?"

She could see Loki, his back to them, head in hand. "I was intending to catch up on some work at my desk, I'm sorry."

"Only for a minute, please. I wish to prove something to my brother. It will take no time at all."

Sarah tried to think of something, anything that would let her leave without confronting Loki but she was at a loss, finally allowing herself to be led to the table where she stood just behind and to the side where she couldn't see his face.

"There, brother, now ask her about Fury." Thor sat down opposite Loki .

"You are an ass, I said I was not interested in her opinion."

Even the sound of his voice rattled her so that she felt like running out the door and she was suddenly angry at herself, she was a damn agent in one of the largest covert operations in the world. She'd seen plenty of strange and terrible things in her ten years here and that one person should shake her to her very foundation was simply intolerable.

"She is right here so you can stop talking like she isn't." She growled, watched for his reaction and when none came, she leaned over his shoulder, her hand on the table beside his elbow, her lips beside his ear, "I was called to Fury's office because of your stunt last week. He asked me what happened and I told him nothing so if you were called to the office, it wasn't my fault. I'm sorry if you didn't want my opinion, you have it regardless." She paused, could see his hands trembling on the table, "And I'm afraid you're also stuck with me for a bit longer so we might want to try and make the best of it, of course if you behave, you won't need to see me at all." She stood back up, "I'm done."

"What stunt?" Thor asked as she maneuvered through the tables and out the doors to the hallway.

"I've got to get back to work." Loki stood up, grabbed his tray, Thor following suit,

"Brother, what did she mean, you mentioned nothing you did."

"Because I didn't do anything. "

They put their trays on the conveyor belt into the kitchen and walked out into the hallway.

"You must keep up your end of the bargain, Loki. Do not dishonor Asgard or the house of Odin."

Loki shot him a glance, "Trust me, Thor. Where else do I have to go? Jotunheim perhaps?"

He looked down the hallway in the direction she had gone. "I have to go."

Sarah had walked into the bathroom and splashed water onto her face, the cold water making her gasp but bringing her back to herself for the moment. She was leaning over the sink in front of the mirror when she heard the entry door open and she turned to see Loki standing there, eyes ablaze.

"Get the hell out of here!" Sarah whispered, furious.

She put her hands out to push him towards the door and her hands passed through him. She looked around behind her, turned, but she was now alone, "Goddamn it.."

She walked out into the corridor and started for the elevator but came up short when she saw him standing there, his back to her, waiting for the elevator as well. She grabbed the door to the stairwell and flung it open, striding through the doorway and directly into Loki.

She stumbled back against the door, "I'm not playing games today, Loki. Let me pass."

"Do you know what I am, truly?" He advanced up to her until she made to grab for her cell phone,

"I don't care what you are. I will still put you down." She had her thumb poised above the button, daring him to step closer.

"I am a monster, your files were right, a pitiful, sick monster."

She hesitated, "You aren't a …"

"There was a time not so long ago that I would have happily slit your throat and watched you bleed out. Is that not the action of a monster, or do you need more proof?"

She felt the stairwell grow colder, she looked at the emergency light above her head as it began to frost over then back to Loki and her knees started to give way. His arms had turned dark blue, stretched outwards, the color sliding up his neck to his face, his eyes clouding over, turning red, scars upon his face standing out in stark relief.

She was shivering violently, the cold piercing through her shirt, pants, her bag dropped to the floor, long since forgotten, her fingers turning numb.

"Stop it Loki, please."

The color began to return to his face, his eyes fading back to blue green brilliance. He put his hands back down to his sides.

"Stay far from me Sarah, until such time as we can find shelter one from another, stay away from me."

He made to brush past her and into the hallway but she stood there blocking his path, realization dawning on her,

"This is deliberate, isn't it? You're doing this on purpose."

He stepped back from her, "You understand nothing. I cannot bear to be near you. It is as simple as that."

"Why? Because of what happened in the training room?"

Loki gritted his teeth, "Because you are a Midgardian woman, a mere human and as such, you are beneath me. You poison my mind with your thoughts."

Sarah put her hands out, shoving him hard enough to knock him slightly off balance and he took a couple steps backward,

"Fuck you! You arrogant, rude, ignorant sonofabitch! You followed me into that damn room, you cornered me, your exact words were "What has happened to us" trust me I've watched the footage many times over, and now you tell me I'm beneath you. I think we know who has to stay away from who at this point."

She turned, shoved the door open and was gone.

Loki closed his eyes tightly, hoping she wouldn't return to see him still standing there, back to the wall, heart pounding, cursing himself under his breath for doing the job so thoroughly and condemning himself further for wanting to run to her and apologize, to hold her hand and beg forgiveness. It was a long time before he could move, he knew he'd be late getting back from lunch but he cared little for that right now. He walked out of the stairwell and to the elevator, his eyes trained to the floor, his thoughts a million miles away.

Sarah sat at her cubicle, impotent with anger, her arms crossed, mouth twisted into a grimace. "Beneath him, he thinks I'm beneath him." She laughed, bitterness edging the sound. "I'll be damned if I feel sorry for him ever again." A thought began to slip its way into her head, of his eyes, the way she knew what he was saying was not what was in his heart. There was no anger or hatred there that she could see, there had been instead, desperation and fear.

She must have gone to stand up a dozen times that afternoon, wanting to find him and talk to him but made herself stay at her desk. He had said to stay away from him and that was what she was determined to do until one of them surrendered, a truce that would end much sooner than she thought


	7. Chapter 7

"It's a chance to get out of here, brother, isn't that what you have asked for countless times? You've been confined here for two nearly two months."

Loki buttoned up his shirt, "I have been longing to leave this facility but to accompany you to see that woman? What were you thinking?"

Thor smiled, "Take it as it comes. I warrant you'll enjoy yourself."

Loki came out to the living room to pull on his boots. "I'll say that it's preferable to staying here alone on the weekend and that is all I will say."

Sarah adjusted the straps of her blue sundress and took a necklace of blue beads and slipped it over her head. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was almost eight thirty. He'd told her to meet him at the office at nine that morning. She started to move a bit faster.

Loki and Thor left the elevator and headed down the corridor to the main lobby.

Loki appraised Thor as they walked, "You look positively human in that t-shirt and those jeans, dear brother,"

"And you do not?"

Loki looked down at himself, he'd picked out a dark green button down shirt, sleeves rolled up, a pair of denim cargo shorts and black canvas sneakers.

"One must blend in with the natives. The woman in the uniform room was kind enough to help. So tell me, what did you say to Fury to get him to let me go with you? You didn't threaten him did you? That would be quite out of character for you."

"No, I told him we would bring an agent with us."

Loki looked around the lobby, at the security guard, "You lied to him?"

Thor smirked, "No I did not."

Loki peered at Thor as if he'd gone mad, "If you'll take a head count dear brother, you will see that we are but two.."

The doors to the foyer slid open and Sarah trotted inside, "Sorry I'm late, I had.."

Loki and Sarah stared at each other and in unison to Thor, said, "No."

Thor took Sarah by the hand before she could turn around, "Yes, I have watched my brother brood for almost two weeks. I promise you he will not get out of hand. Now I have told Jane we will be at the University of Columbia to meet her in an hour so may we depart?"

Loki stood fast, arms crossed, "I will stay here. You do not need me."

"Brother, I talked to Fury for the better part of an hour yesterday. Now, you come with us."

Sarah had been staring out the windows of the foyer, she could see the faint reflection of him behind her, looking at her back.

"I can no longer bear to be confined in this dungeon, thus I will cede to your will."

She watched him walk past her, through the doors to the outside, followed by Thor, then sighed loudly and followed them.

They were both quite a bit taller than her, both with long legs, and she was having to trot along to keep up with them, "Guys, I'm going to drop if you don't slow down just a bit."

Loki turned his head and said the first words she'd heard from him in almost a week, "We're not going to carry you. Come now, you are an agent, are you not trained for endurance?"

As he turned back around, she gave him the finger, "Aren't you trained to listen to a lady when she's in distress?"

Thor stopped in his tracks and she had to pull up short not to run into him.

"She is right, brother. We must slow down."

She watched Loki's jaw clench, "Very well, we will humor your Midgardian constitution."

"Gee thanks," she patted him on the shoulder, enjoying his flinch at her touch. "Maybe this will be a good day" she thought to herself.

She could see Jane's countenance fall as they walked up to where she was in the parking lot, standing beside her red SUV. She ran up to Thor and gave him a fierce hug. Sarah saw Loki wrinkle his nose in disgust and looked away just in time for him to stare at her in turn.

"I didn't expect company." She said to Thor. Sarah walked forward and put out her hand, "I'm Sarah Miller. I'm an agent with S.H.I.E.L.D and I was asked to come along because of the sad sack behind me."

Loki glared at Sarah but stepped forward and offered Jane his hand, she slowly taking it. He then turned it over and planted a kiss lightly on the top of her hand. "Charmed to meet your acquaintance. My brother has told me much about you." Sarah bristled slightly at the service he was showing Jane and couldn't help the word, "Prick" from creeping into her head.

Loki smiled at Jane, then turned to Sarah and whispered. "Indeed, woman, I thought you knew that already."

Jane turned and took Thor's arm, pulling him towards the SUV while Loki and Sarah followed behind, Sarah stopping short when Thor climbed into the front seat with Jane. She looked at Loki who opened the back door for her and bowed. She thought of aiming a well-placed kick at him as she entered the SUV but he was already closing the door and coming around to the other side of the vehicle.

Sarah sidled as close to the door as she could get, watching the city streets pass by, at one point allowing her peripheral vision to take him in, finding he was also doing his best not to acknowledge her.

"We're going to the boardwalk at Coney Island, I don't think Thor told you." Jane looked in the rearview mirror at Sarah. "They're having a concert on the beach later tonight."

"You know I don't think I've ever been to Coney Island in all the years I've lived in New York. This will be interesting." She glanced at Loki to gauge his reaction but he either hadn't heard Jane, or didn't care.

They got out of the SUV and headed for the boardwalk, Sarah lagging slightly behind until Loki turned around to look for her.

"Must we still wait for you?" He sighed, walking backwards, watching her.

"You go ahead, I'll catch up." She mumbled, glanced up and saw Thor standing directly in his path, she smiled as Loki, who still hadn't turned back around, ran full force into him.

"We will wait for Sarah if need be." Thor put his hands on Loki's shoulders. "Lest we lose her."

Sarah caught up with them, slung her handbag over her shoulder and shaded her eyes with her hand, "Should have brought a sun hat."

She sidled up to Loki and was suddenly locking her arm around his. "Loki can be my shade. He's taller than me."

Thor raised an eyebrow and shook his head as they resumed walking. She could feel Loki tense up as she pulled him forward up the steps and onto the wooden slats of the boardwalk.

"Come on, it's going to be fun." She squeezed his arm gently and was immediately aware that he was trembling, whether from revulsion or rage she wasn't sure, but not wanting to push him any further, she let go of his arm as they followed Thor and Jane down the walkway to the beach.

She stopped at the sand to take her sandals off, hooking them over her fingers and stood waiting for Loki. "Take your shoes off and walk barefoot, it's better than getting sand in them."

He looked up the beach at Thor and Jane who were now walking hand in hand, heads close together as they talked.

"Okay you stay there, I'm walking." Sarah headed towards the water, watching the boats on the horizon, the children playing in the surf, and tried to hide her smile as he trotted up beside her. She saw he had his shoes in hand and gave him a thumbs up which he promptly ignored.

"The beach is the most soothing place I know." She almost considered taking his arm again but decided against it.

"It must be the general consensus."

They walked in silence for a few minutes then Sarah spoke up, "I didn't mean to make you angry back there when I grabbed your arm. I was just teasing you."

"I was not angry. I was revolted."

Sarah stopped, waited for him to realize she'd done so, "Let's start over again, this time you can play the part of the nice guy, let me take the part of the asshole."

Loki put a hand to his forehead, "Alright, I was not angry, I was startled."

"It's better but you're still an asshole, guess there's nothing for it."

"You're very brave, Agent Miller."

She ignored him, continuing on down the beach until he caught up with her, "And now who's in a hurry?"

"You know if you don't want to be civil to me, then why bother, go sit on a bench and sulk or catch up with your brother."

She paused as a Frisbee flew in front of them and young blond boy in bright swim trunks ran to fetch it,

"I have no desire to join Thor, though it would be amusing to see him trying to catch a moment's peace. I've been known to be quite the pest."

"Shocking.." Sarah frowned, she was starting to wish she'd stayed home, wishing she'd thought better of it when Thor asked her to accompany him on the outing, she'd had the feeling something was wrong in the first place.

They came upon a young woman with a blanket spread on the sand, bracelets and necklaces laid out for sale. Sarah stopped and stooped to look.

"I make them all myself, I'm saving for college." The woman with pretty red hair and green eyes, smiled at her. Sarah peered at Loki who stood beside her, waiting.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

Sarah shook her head, "This bracelet, geez." She held up one of the bracelets. It had seed beads the color of her dress interspersed with larger beads that matched the necklace at her throat.

Loki shrugged and Sarah turned back to the woman, "Typical male, I'll take it."

She paid the woman and they walked a few feet away where Sarah stopped and put down her sandals.

"Come here and help me will you?" She watched Loki stop and turn and she held out the bracelet to him, "Will you put this on me?"

Loki took the bracelet from her and stared at it.

"See the little circle at the end? The one with the tab sticking out? Pull it back with your fingernail, like that see? Then you put the other end into the opening."

She held her hand out to him and he gingerly wrapped the bracelet around her wrist, trying to get the link to drop into the opening. She watched him as he concentrated, a little grin on her face as he chewed his lip, she could feel his hands trembling.

"Calm down or you'll never get it." She said softly and he jumped as if bitten, finally dropping the link into place and quickly letting go of her wrist.

"Thank you." She put a hand on his arm, felt the gooseflesh there. "Loki, what is it like in Asgard?"

He stared at her, "There's nothing to compare it with here except perhaps with the grand castles in England here on Midgard. The land, the buildings, the places, I can only tell you it is a grand glittering realm, home to the Gods. A pity you mortals cannot see it."

"Has anyone from our realm ever visited there before?"

He nodded, "There have been a few, yes but not for many millennia now. " He smiled to himself at something she knew not what.

"You should smile more often, not that crazy bat shit smile but like this, you have a great smile."

She was about to say more but couldn't when she saw him start to redden, she put her hand over her mouth, "I wish I'd brought my camera, I didn't know you had it in you to be embarrassed."

He glared at her then, "Embarrassed? How say you? I've nothing to be embarrassed about."

She shoved him in the arm, "You're blushing, stupid. Because I said you had a great smile." She laughed as he started to redden further and quickened his pace.

"Oh come on, wait up. Take a compliment, even from a lowly human like me."

He slowed again, looked back at her, "Very well, I feel I must compliment you in return and I find it awkward."

"Gee thanks for making me feel like a troll." She stopped then, sat down on the sand, threw off her shoulder bag and leaned back on her hands.

Loki dropped down beside her, sitting cross legged. "You are no troll, trust me I have seen many."

He sifted the sand through his fingers, idly, silent for a moment, "You have lovely eyes, is that appropriate?"

She turned her head but he kept his gaze upon the sand before him.

"Is that sincere or are you just paying me lip service?"

Loki looked up at her and she felt a shiver run down her spine, "I am sincere, Sarah. Do you wish me not to be? Would you rather I lied?"

"No, I just wanted to know. And thank you for the compliment."

He grunted in reply, continued to draw his fingers through the sand.

She stood back up, brushed herself off and offered her hand down to him. "Come on, let's get some ice cream to beat the heat."

He reached up and took her hands, startling her, she'd been sure he would ignore her and struggle on his own. She had to brace herself to pull him up and as he rose to his full height, their hands stayed together for the briefest moment until she let go and brushed the sand from her dress missing the look of longing that crossed his face like the flicker of a candle.

They trailed along the edge of the surf as they walked, the waves lapping at their feet until Sarah had a devilish thought. As the next wave rose to meet them, Sarah leaped in the air and came down with both feet beside Loki, the resulting splash wetting him to the thighs. He stumbled back away from the water and glared at Sarah who was laughing as she swiftly made tracks away from him. Her laughter turned into a squeal as a grin spread across his face and he began to run towards her. She dropped her bag and her sandals with a scream as she tried to outdistance him, knowing the effort was going to be futile when she heard his feet slapping the water just before she felt his hands at her waist. She grabbed at his hand as she fell forward into the surf, landing on her hands and knees, pulling him down with her.

She was still squealing, trying to fling the water behind her while she crawled away from him, his fingers just grazing the bottom of her feet at first, then latching onto her ankle and it was then that she heard something that made her heart leap, he was laughing, there was no malice in it, just pure enjoyment, the thrill of being caught up in the moment. She turned finally and held her hands up in surrender, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

"I give up, you win…" She looked at him, his smile, sand flecked on one cheek, his shirt soaked to the chest, shorts wet and sandy and willed herself hard to think about her sandals behind them on the beach. "Come on, my bag and our shoes are back there."

He stood in the surf, this time giving her his hand, pulling her up effortlessly. "Foolish girl, thinking you could outrun me. I was once a courier on Alfheim for my father's forces. I ran for a day, from sunup to sundown."

She shook her head and looked down at her dress which was plastered to her body. She plucked it from her stomach, following it downward until she was able to bunch it up and squeeze some of the water from it. She glanced up at Loki who was brushing the sand from his legs and shorts and her heart began to pound again, "Let's get our things before they become someone else's things." She knew her service revolver was in her handbag and that was the last thing she wanted a little kid to get hold of. She handed Loki his shoes, picked up her sandals and bag and they headed across the beach to the stairs before them.

They sat on a bench on the boardwalk with cups of ice cream, watching the people walking by on the beach, playing, building sand castles.  
"I wonder where the God of Thunder and his mistress have gotten off to." Loki mused, taking another spoonful of his ice cream and glancing up the beach.

"We'll find them afterwards." Before they'd parted, Jane had given Sarah her cell number so that they could contact each other.

Loki took his spoon, reached over and took a scoop of Sarah's ice cream, "Hey!" She pulled the cup away from him.

"Vanilla, it is so….simple." He shook his head, held his dish out to her, "Go on." She took a spoonful from his dish.

"Meh, it's okay, I've never been a fan of strawberry ice cream though."

They were quiet for a minute, sitting side by side, not quite touching but close enough. "Are you having more fun that you thought you would"

Loki gave a quick smile, "I am duly amused and perhaps it is the company I keep."

Sarah's mouth hung open a minute, "Why I could almost believe that was another compliment were it not coming from you."

His smile quickly disappeared, "You cut me to the quick and not a knife upon you. Is it in recompense for my behavior these some days past?"

She hung her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a bitch, I still think what you did last week stemmed from the training room encounter." She'd been reluctant to discuss such a touchy subject but there it was, "I think what has happened to us is that we started to become friends. We humans make better companions than we do pets, don't you think?" She waited for his reply but never got to hear it as they heard a voice from in front of them on the beach,

"We have found you, finally." Thor and Jane came bounding up the steps and stood before the bench.

"What happened to you two?" Jane looked them both over,

"We were playing in the ocean." Sarah could see Loki from the corner of her eye, his smirk making her want to grab his arm and hug it.

Jane cocked her head slightly, "You two were playing in the ocean?"

"Yes, Miss Foster, pray tell me is it hard to picture me thus?" Loki raised his head, squinting at the sun, then held his hand up for shade.

"Um, yeah, but hey, I believe you. It's heading for three, did you want to get some supper or something, or is the ice cream going to hold you? They're having a clambake down the beach before the concert."

Sarah wrinkled her nose, "I don't like clams,"

"They're going to have crab too, I don't like clams either. Why don't we head down to it? We'll run back to the car and get the beach blanket and be right back, you stay here."

Sarah nodded, looked at Loki who shrugged and watched Thor and Jane walk away.

"They make a nice couple." Sarah mused as she stood up and threw her empty cup away in the basket to her left.

"Fools, both of them. "

Sarah turned and studied him as he finished his ice cream, the delicate slope of his nose, the fine line of his jaw, his eyes a deep blue green to contrast with the green of his shirt. So lost was she in her thoughts, that she was taken aback by Loki's question, "Sarah, what is it about me that is holding you in thrall?"

She blinked a couple times, "I was waiting for you to finish so I could throw your cup out for you." She held out her hand and he placed the cup in it. When she turned to throw it away, he could see her cheeks had turned pink in the sunlight and he was seized by a sudden horrible urge to take her hand as she sat back down beside him. Instead he laced his fingers together in his lap.

"Were you ever married?" She asked him as she played with the beads on her bracelet.

"No, the legends tell otherwise, do they not? What fools these mortals be indeed. Fanciful stories invented to warm the hearth on a cold winter night that are then passed down from generation to generation till they become gospel. No, I have not had the time nor the inclination to find a wife. Nor have none looked to find me. A reputation does that oftentimes."

"So change your reputation. Don't you get lonely?"

Sarah's observation so close to the bone struck a chord in him, "Do you not get lonely as well? Have you a mate?"

Sarah laughed heartily, "Oh hell no. I make it a point never to date in the workplace and I work sometimes twelve hour shifts. I don't' have time to look. Men are more trouble than they're worth."

She had wanted to add 'case in point' but stopped short, trying to keep the conversation civil, plus she wasn't as sure she still meant it now.

"I charge you that women are twice that." He swept her with a glance but his face was open, relaxed, she could see the humor in his eyes, a smile creeping back to his countenance.

"Not always, sometimes they're triple." She gave Loki a playful shove and he shook his head.

They spread the blanket out on the sand. Thor and Loki had left to get the dinners while Sarah and Jane claimed their spot.

"I can't believe the day is half over. I don't see Thor near enough nowadays. I work so much at the University. I've asked him to live with me but he's trying to be a gentleman. Brooklyn isn't so far away and it's not like he can't be downtown in a hurry if he really truly has to."

Sarah nodded, "Have you tried every approach to change his mind? Every means at your disposal?" She winked at Jane who laughed.

"That was the first trick I pulled out of my bag. That's his favorite." She giggled, sat down on the blanket and lay back.

"You've been getting along with the enemy I see."

Sarah bristled at the comment, "I have indeed. He's actually being rather charming."

"I don't trust him, do you?"

Sarah picked idly at the blanket, "Depends on what you mean by trust. He is still under house guard, thus the reason I'm here. I don't know if I trust him, that comes with time."

Jane sat up, "Just watch yourself, he's dangerous, Thor has told me a lot of stories."

Sarah pointed to their left as the men made the blanket and sat down beside them. Loki handed her a box and she opened it.

"God I love crab."

Loki peered into the box, "As you will, I shall take my chances with the clams."

The breeze coming in off the ocean was cool but the sand retained its heat from the day. The band was loud but good. They sat on the blanket, Jane sitting between Thor's legs, leaning against him, he with his arms around her.

Sarah sat beside Lok,i who had leaned back, his hands behind him, legs stretched out, stealing glances at him every so often, the lights from the band illuminating them in a soft glow of red, yellow and green.

"My back hurts," she groaned and twisted around to work out the kinks, sighing as she felt her back snap and pop.

Loki eyed Sarah, glanced at Thor and Jane, then turned back to her, "You may lean on me if you wish."

Sarah hesitated, unsure how to do so in his present position, "How?"

Loki sat up and crossed his legs in front of him. "Get in front of me."

Sarah crawled around in front of him, vaguely aware she was crossing a line somewhere and not really caring. She sat in front of him and leaned back until she felt his legs at the small of her back and winced, "That's as uncomfortable as I was before."

"Hold on." Loki put his legs out straight on either side of her hips. "Lean back now."

Sarah felt a flush move up her body, tingling along her arms, legs, up her back. "If you're worried about being too heavy for me, you needn't be."

She turned her head to the side, "Never use the word heavy with a woman."

"Alright then, uncomfortable, will that do?"

She leaned back against him gingerly, relaxing a bit more until her head was at his collarbone. She could feel his heartbeat at her back, the heat of his body, the scent of soap and then still deeper, the scent of him. His voice was suddenly at her ear, "Better?"

She swallowed hard before she replied, "Yes."

Loki closed his eyes, breathed in the scent of her hair, then gazed at the curve of her neck, inches from his mouth and was seized with the maddening desire to kiss the soft skin there.

She could feel his breathing change suddenly, hers following suit until she sat up and turned around to look at him, seeing the expression on his face, a mixture of confusion and desire and she cleared her throat.

"I think I'll lay down on my stomach for a few." She climbed from between his legs, laying down on her belly beside him, trying not to look at him. They stayed that way for the remainder of the concert only moving when Thor stood to stretch.

"I would that this day would never end but we have to head back to the office to drop you off, brother. It is near to midnight."

Loki looked about the beach at the people packing up, then at Thor, Jane and lastly Sarah.

"Are you okay?" She touched his arm and he flinched.

"I'm going to use the bathroom before we leave." He mumbled, looking up the boardwalk at the large white building.

"Okay, we'll meet you there. Go on." Sarah waved him away then bent over to help Jane fold the blanket.

Loki was agitated, more than that, he was suddenly scared, terrified, the thought of returning to the emptiness that was S.H.I.E.L.D., the barrier he had crossed with Sarah, unhinging him, pushing him to panic. He walked into the men's bathroom which was busy. He entered one of the stalls, took the bracelet at his wrist and gave it a violent twist, hearing it snap, feeling it part beneath his fingers. He stepped from the stall, dropping the bracelet to the floor, easing out of the in door, garnering stares from the men walking in. He could see Sarah, Thor and Jane at the exit, talking and almost reconsidered his decision, then looked out at the black expanse of ocean on the other side of the boardwalk. Why couldn't he lose himself out there in the crowd? He slipped into the crowd and headed away from the bathrooms, down the boardwalk and onto the sand.

"It's been fifteen minutes, is he sick?" Jane looked at the doorway, "Thor why don't you go inside and see if he's okay?"

Thor put a hand to her shoulder, "I will be right back."

Thor walked into the bathroom, glanced around the bathroom,

"Brother? Are you alright? but he received no response, "Brother, we are waiting for you." He walked to the first stall which was empty, proceeded to the second but at the third, his foot slipped on something solid and he looked down at the floor.

Sarah stared at Thor, then back to the bracelet in his hand," Oh no way, no!" She shouted, rooting through her bag for her I.D., throwing it around her neck. "Come on,"

They headed up the boardwalk, scanning the crowd. "He's a head taller than the majority of the people here and we can't find him?"

Thor, his hands balled into fists, stared around him, "I will see to it that he answers for this."

Sarah saw a couple of cops up ahead of them and she ran ahead.

"Hi, we're looking for a man, about six' two", dark hair, wearing a green shirt and shorts. He's hard to miss, he looks like he's not from around here." Sarah said to the first cop, a short portly balding man with his cap in hand.

"You just described half the men out here tonight. Is he lost or are you?"

"We lost him in the crowd." Sarah kept her eyes on the people passing by.

The second cop spoke up, "You know, Glen. Remember that guy we saw, he looked like he was scared out of his wits. He kind of fit that description."

Sarah whirled around, "Which way did he go?"

Loki stood in the shadows, the lights over the boardwalk casting strips of light through into the darkness below. He had doubled around, hoping to reach the parking lot and the road beyond before they knew he had gone which they undoubtedly had done by now. He had been running but slowed to a trot as he followed the curve of the boardwalk. He stopped when he heard Thor calling his name, waiting until his voice grew distant, then started walking again.

Sarah had run in the direction of the parking lot, sending Thor and Jane in the opposite direction. She jogged down the third set of stairs closest to the parking lot and headed away from it, down the beach.

Loki leaned against a pylon to catch his breath. Where would he go? Where could he go? Would Heimdall even open the Bifrost for him if he called it? He was about to stand up and put some more distance between himself and the crowd when he felt a hand close around his wrist.

"Your brother told me lots of secrets about you, like the fact that you can't play that little trick you used on me when I'm touching you." With her other hand, Sarah pulled her cell phone from her pocket, "Now let's don't be stupid,"

He whirled around, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her up against the pillar hard enough to clack her teeth together, her hand losing its grip on his wrist and her cell phone simultaneously, she just as suddenly dropping to the sand as he faded to nothing. Coughing and sputtering, she felt in the sand for her phone, finding it in seconds and opening it,

"Loki, I know you can hear me, I can have this place swarming with agents in five minutes. They will find you and take you down a lot harder than I would, if Thor doesn't first. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Loki had put some distance between them but slowed to a stop at her words.

"So why don't you come back here, I'll say the bracelet broke on accident, I'm sure we can convince Thor to shut his mouth."

From behind her she heard him, "Have you ever tried it?"

She pulled herself to her feet, Loki watching her, reluctant to help lest her touch her again, that alone would be too much for him. She walked up to him then, punching him hard in the arm, all pretense of professionalism out the window, "Why are you doing this? We had such a good day. Why would you run?"

"Why do you wish me to remain here?"

She brushed her hair from her face, "I don't know Loki, I'll wager you're more trouble than any charge I've ever had." She opened her phone and pressed the call button, "I've found him."

They were standing on the boardwalk when Thor and Jane caught up to them, Thor striding up to and past Sarah to lunge for Loki but she stepped between them, "Hold on!"

"You selfish insensitive fool!" Thor growled at him, backing away reluctantly.

"This is how it's going to go, the bracelet got snagged on something and broke, simple as that, okay? Are we all agreed?"

Loki stared at Sarah's back, stunned.

"For your sake, I agree." Thor grumbled but Jane replied, "No, why should I cover up for his actions, why should you, Thor, haven't you done that long enough? Or you Sarah?"

"Because…" but Loki never got to finish his thought as Sarah put her hand up to his mouth, he making to bite her fingers as she pulled them away.

Jane grabbed Sarah by the arm and pulled her a distance away from Thor and Loki,

"I don't know what he's said to you to convince you to let him get away with this."

Sarah shook her head, "He didn't say anything."

"Are you lying? Thor said he possesses the gift of eloquence, that he has nicknames like silver tongue, liesmith, I told you I don't think he can be trusted."

Sarah threw her hands in the air, glanced down the boardwalk where Loki stood talking to Thor.

"So we're just supposed to give up on him like that? How can you expect him to change if every time he does something wrong.."

"Like trash Manhattan?" Jane chimed in,

"We lock him up?"

Jane watched Sarah's face and realization hit her, "You like him, you're falling for him!" she whispered, taking Sarah's arm again, "You're crazy."

"I'm in charge of him, I want him to succeed."

Jane shook her head, "No, it's more than that."

"You couldn't be more wrong, I pity him."

Thor stood before Loki, his arms crossed, "You have sorely vexed me brother, where would you have gone? You know little of this world, there would be no one to attend you, you've no coin of the realm. How would you eat? Would you steal, lie, become a vagrant?"

Loki walked to the railing at the boardwalk and curled his fingers around it, "I am going mad, but for the fact that the size of the cell is much larger, that place is no different than the prison on Asgard."

Thor followed to stand beside him, "But you have brought this on yourself, Loki, and playing our host like this does not endear you to them. As such I do not know what you have done or said to Agent Miller to give her cause to be so lenient on you."

"Perhaps she has a heart."

"Perhaps you should have one as well. The rapport you garnered today with her has likely now been lost, are you not saddened by this?"

Loki snarled at him, "There was no such thing, she is an agent. Even now her purse holds her revolver that she would have drawn on me had she needed to. She merely does her job."

"Brother, you are bitter to your very core, you must learn to open your heart and your mind as well."

"Bah, and you must remember that we are not of this world. Do not ask me to adopt the mantle of their sentiments."

Thor shook his head, turned to see the women returning to them. "You would do well to apologize before the night is through."

Loki sat brooding in the back seat beside Sarah, "We're going to have to stop at Tech when we get to the office, we have to get you a new bracelet."

"Mmhmm." He grunted, keeping his gaze out the window into the night.

"Ungrateful" she thought to herself and saw him turn his head slightly to catch her in his peripheral vision. So he was going to play that game again, she thought again, "Insensitive, rude, idiotic, untrustworthy!" as bold and as loud as she could in her mind missing the hand that crept to her arm as it lay draped across the armrest. A sudden sharp pain like dry ice against her skin caused her to yelp and she pulled her arm up, glaring at Loki who returned the stare.

"What's wrong back there?"

"Nothing, caught my finger in the zipper of my purse." She sidled a bit closer to the door, now keeping her eye on Loki who had nevertheless returned his gaze back outside the vehicle.

They walked down the corridor, Sarah leading the way. At a door marked Technical on the main floor, she swiped her badge and the door slid open. Mark, the evening technician, a tall, skinny kid with a high voice, swiveled around in his chair from the computer screen he'd been working at, to greet Sarah.

"What brings you here at this late hour, Agent Miller?"

She held out the remains of the bracelet to him and he took it out of her hand with a whistle, "What happened, did it get run over by a train?"

"Yeah, we need a new one okay?"

"Was he in it? Because this is titanium, our machines max out on the stress meter when we test them.."

"just get a new bracelet for me, Mark."

He rolled his eyes and opened the drawer beside him, "Okay, okay I just wanted to know if maybe we needed to go with a new supplier, gee."

She stopped at the door to his quarters. "I won't test the bracelet. I trust Mark knows what he's doing. Now I'm going to head home, it's been a really long day."

She had turned from him and started to walk back down the corridor to the elevator when he finally spoke up. "I would that I could escort you home safely but as such, I cannot."

She stopped. Heard him come up behind her, stopping before her and at once he had taken her hand between his, clasping it tightly. "I have grievously wronged you today, Sarah. Were I able to take it back, I would."

She refused to look up at him, instead staring at her hand in his, feeling the warmth, the desperation in his grip.

"I really thought ," She stopped, what had she thought today? "I was hoping we were forging a friendship. The day was going so well but maybe that was my estimation, or maybe it was the fact that you are the God of lies and trickery and I'm just human after all, with the usual human frailties."

The stress of the day was catching up to her and she wiped her eyes with her free hand. "I have to go."

She looked up and made to pull her hand away, flinching as he brought his other hand up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

"Forgive me Sarah, "

She could see the earnest hope in his eyes and she snorted, a wry smile slipping to her lips, it was likely another trick, a manipulation of her emotions which were running high right now.

She could say nothing, shook her head, pulled her hand from his and walked away.

As the elevator door slid shut, he leaned back against the wall, his hand to his mouth, angry at himself, at the tear that seemed destined to mimic hers, falling unbidden from the corner of his eye as he closed them.


	8. Chapter 8

Lizzie sat on one side of her on the couch, Charlie on the other.

"You know, maybe you're getting burnt out." Charlie patted her arm but Sarah just chuckled wryly.

"I'm not getting burnt out, I need a transfer from that floor. I'm putting in for one after that gala of Mister Stark's. "

Charlie leaned back into the couch and drew his fingers through his short blond hair, "Maybe you can come over to Stark tower and work there. Tony's pretty generous, a good boss."

"Yeah," Lizzie added, "it might be a move upward."

Sarah shrugged, "I'll take what I get, I can ask I suppose."

Daniel came running into the house, "Dad, I found a snake outside, come see! It's huge."

Charlie got up from the couch, partly propelled by Daniel's hand as he pulled his arm, "Okay, hold on," He smiled back at Lizzie, "Maybe we can bring it in to show your mother."

"Don't you dare," She replied as they went through the kitchen and out the back door.

"Charlie says you're going to the gala next weekend. Working I take it?"

Sarah watched Lizzie fold the clothes from one laundry basket and place them in another basket beside it. "Isn't it always the way, well at least I'll be able to enjoy myself a little. I'm undercover this time, I'll have a lovely dress and be mingling with the guests, my leg holster belted at my thigh."

"You lucky stiff. Maybe you'll find a rich husband."

Sarah took a towel from the basket and folded it, handed it to Lizzie. "I'm so tired of men, honestly I'm half way to forty. I'd rather get a second job and occupy all my time."

Lizzie shook her head, "There's this nice guy Charlie works with, I could ask him to dinner, you could come over."

Sarah handed her another towel, "I don't think so. My heart wouldn't be in it."

They heard the back door creak open and peered into the kitchen to see Charlie tiptoeing over the linoleum with a garter snake in his hand. Lizzie let out a shriek and jumped up from the couch, Sarah laughing as she tried to fend off her husband with a bath towel, Daniel running around them both, giggling gleefully.

She adjusted the strap of her gown for the third time and looked in the mirror on the bathroom door. The gown was blue watered silk with an empire waist and matching shoes, a set of sapphire drop earring and a necklace. The set had been provided by Stark Industries. She'd gone to Stark Tower the day before and picked it out along with seven other women, all agents working undercover. Glancing around the room, she'd felt privileged to be included in the company of such beautiful women.

She fastened the necklace around her neck and pulled her hair up into a chignon. Turned to the side and pouted, struck a pose, smiled to herself, recalling Lizzie's remark about a rich husband. She grabbed her lace wrap, her purse and headed out the door to the limousine that was waiting out in the street, driver by the door.

The crowd had started to trickle in, arriving in limousines and vintage cars, Ferraris, Spyders, she felt a bit silly climbing out of the limousine, almost pretentious. The gala was being held at Stark Tower, in the twentieth floor ballroom and Sarah tried not to feel out of place as she stood at the back of the elevator unescorted.

She stepped off into a large pink marble foyer with a large fireplace to her right, couches and chairs surrounding it, to her left a matching scene. Before her were massive pink marble pillars framing the entryway to a grand ballroom replete with mirrored frescoes and gilded ceilings. She couldn't help but feel as if she'd stepped into the palace at Versailles. To her extreme left was a coat check room. She walked over to it, handed her wrap and purse to the young woman attendant behind the counter and headed for the ballroom itself. She gazed about the room, looking for familiar faces, finding a couple of agents from her office and nodding to them, receiving smiles or nods in return. A servant approached her with a tray of champagne flutes and she took one, venturing a sip. It was delightful as she'd expected it to be.

She saw Tony talking with a group of men in suits. She doubted they were agents. The music was loud, with a heavy beat, she could see a group of men far across the room on a stage, sound equipment, towering speakers, a full three tables of equipment. The dance floor was crowded and she stayed back at the edge of the throng, watching the people come and go, nursing her champagne for the better part of half an hour when the music changed tempo to a slow song and people paired up into couples.

She felt a hand at her shoulder and jumped, nearly spilling her champagne, "I'm sorry Miss Miller, I was wondering if you'd care to dance tonight." Tony Stark bowed deep and held out his hand. She put her empty glass on a passing tray and gave him a small grin, allowing herself to be led onto the dance floor, hoping she wasn't shaking as bad outside as she was inside.

"I'm glad to see you here tonight, Miss Miller. Thor's told me all about you." Tony leaned in to speak to her, "You've gotten a reputation as a very good agent. You should come join my team." He smiled, a quick flash.

"I'd consider it Mister Stark, I'm in the department for a transfer." Sarah felt ever so slightly light headed as he shuffled her around the room.

Thor adjusted his shirt again and Loki pushed his hand down. "Honestly brother, you'd have done better to show up in your battle armor. Stop fidgeting." Loki looked about the room at the sea of humanity before them. "A pity Jane couldn't have come instead. I've not the stomach for this. Couldn't you have found someone else to drag along?"

Thor looked to Loki, "I would not bring another but Jane is in Canada, you know that. I told Mister Stark that I would bring another companion and he seemed not affected."

"I'm sure he will be delighted to see me in any case. He always has such kind words for me at the office."

Thor started into the crowd and turned to Loki, "Brother, are you coming, or will you stay here and sulk all evening?"

Loki waved him away, "Go, enjoy yourself and I shall endeavor to do the same."

He watched Thor drift into the crowd, scanned the wall until he found an empty chair and sat down to observe.

Sarah thanked Tony and made her way out of the dance floor, nearly running into Thor, "Sarah! By the gods, I didn't know you would be here. Are you a guest?"

She nodded, then stood up on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, "I'm undercover but I'm having fun doing it."

"Loki is here as well."

Sarah felt a cold shiver run up her spine and the accompanying rush of adrenaline. "How come?"

"He is my, date if you will, for the evening. Jane is in Canada on business or I would have brought her. He was standing over at the far wall but I do not see him. You should find him Sarah."

She patted Thor's arm and walked away from him, breaking through the crowd, keeping her head down. Her stomach was quivering, her cheeks felt hot. As mad as she was at him, she had missed him and she half expected to see him at each turn.

Loki leaned forward, elbows on his knees listening to the music, staring at the floor. He twirled his bracelet around his wrist, sighed, closed his eyes and opened them again to see a pair of blue velvet shoes before him. He sat upright, following the shoes up the legs, covered in blue silk, the waist, the bosom and finally the face of the woman who had plagued his every waking hour for the past two months.

"Sarah?"

She appraised Loki as he had done her, the black suit and white shirt he'd worn set off with a dark rich blue tie that complimented his eyes and her breath caught in her throat. She sat down beside him, "I'm undercover tonight. I'm making sure the bad boys don't come marching through the front door."

"Perhaps the bad boys are already here." He mumbled, seeing Sarah nod in agreement, smile.

"You look very handsome in that suit."

Loki rolled his eyes, "With the compliments yet again, woman, it would do you well to ask if I've need of such a thing."

Sarah glanced down at the floor, "You don't need to return it all the time."

"It does make the color come to my cheek. I am more used to the sharp tongue than the soft word."

Sarah listened to the strains of the next song, one of her old favorites, "Do you want to dance? I love this song, it's called La Vie En Rose"

Loki turned to her.

"What, don't they dance where you come from?"

Sarah stood up and held out her hand, "Come on, you follow my lead,"

He took her hand and allowed himself to be lead towards the dance floor, trying his best not to watch the people watching them.

Sarah spun and faced him, "Put your hand around my waist," She placed his right hand around to her back, felt his hand in a fist. "Open your hand, place it flat, we're not going to get into a boxing match."

She could feel his whole body trembling and she was afraid she was going to join him any minute. She put her hand on his shoulder and held her other hand out to her side, "Now take my hand in yours, put your arm up, like that."

She leaned in closer and started to sway in time to the music, "Loki, let yourself a bit looser, come on."

She could feel the thunder of a heart beat though she didn't know whose was beating faster. She felt his hand press the small of her back closer to him, as near as they were, he towered over her. She rested her cheek against his lapel, felt his chin rest gently atop her head. She closed her eyes, pulled her hand in closer until their hands were resting between them, clasped together.

"Sarah," his voice, a purr deep in his chest, he took a shuddering breath, pushed her suddenly from him, stared at her, then turned and strode through the crowd away from the dance floor.

She tried to see where he'd gone, the strains of the next song lost to her. Finally breaking free of the throng, she walked through the large pillars into the foyer, looking first right, then left, seeing him standing before the fireplace, a hand run through his hair.

She walked over and stood in front of him, "Loki, why did you run off?"

He caught her eyes with his and grabbed her wrist, "You humans have long claimed that magic does not exist yet here before me I find a practiced witch,"

She made a feeble effort to pull her hand from his grasp but he tightened his fingers, "Loki, I'm not a witch, don't be so silly."

He leaned in closer to her, growled, "You lie." He searched her face, his breath coming in short gasps. "How is it then that I find it hard to breath when you are near, that my heart all but thunders out my chest, ties my tongue like the Gordian knot. What sorcery do you practice so skillfully upon me?"

She tried to stop the thought from forming in her head, knowing in his agitated state that he would likely forget the promise he made to her and as the words formed in her mind "Haven't you ever been in love before?" and she watched his expression change to horror, she knew he had read her. He pulled her closer to him, mouth set in shock for a moment, then, "How dare you presume to know my thoughts, I am of royal blood, a prince, a God," He fairly spat the last words. "You are a mere mortal, a female of Midgard, I could never.."

A groan escaped him all at once, he closed the distance between them and caught her in a kiss so fierce, so ardent, she had to grip his shoulder to keep herself upright, the exchange of breath intoxicating as he sought to part her lips with his, tongue searching for entrance, sliding past to meet her own, she tilting her head slightly to deepen the kiss, decrease the space between them. She felt his hand slide around her waist, the hand that had held her wrist, sliding up her arm to her shoulder. She drew her hand across his collar, her fingertips brushing the soft curls beside his throat, then the curve of his jaw, wrenching a sound from him, a whimper, his hand stealing around her head where her hair was pinned up. He began to trail kisses down her chin to the hinge of her jaw, her earlobe, the curve of her neck where she felt his tongue warm and wet on her skin. She was close to losing control of herself, and she knew she would have to stop soon before someone saw them.

She gently held up her hand to him, trying to slow her breathing down, watching him step back from her, his face a mixture of shock and desire.

"Oh god, Loki." She whispered, "What are we doing?"

Loki seemed to come to his senses then, "Witchcraft," He stepped further away, "You have seduced me." He touched his lips with his fingers, she could see his hand trembling.

"You kissed me!" She hissed, coming forward towards him, watching him retreat further still, "I'm the one who should be angry. I'm an agent and I've now been compromised." She glanced around the foyer but it was empty still, save for them.

"I know love, vixen. I know also my station which they do not teach you here. You would have servant and saint lie together with no more humility than the lowest, basest of beggars. No wonder this world be in such chaos on a daily basis."

Sarah wrapped her arms around her, suddenly indignant, hurt seeping through the cracks in her heart. "You wouldn't know love if it bit you on the ass!"

Eyes narrowed, he seemed ready to say something else, instead pushing past her, and disappearing into the ballroom.

Sarah walked to the cloak room, gathered her wrap and purse. In two minutes time, she was walking down the city streets to her apartment. To hell with it, she would tell them she felt ill all of a sudden, let them fire her if they wanted to. She was getting burnt out, Charlie was right and she might even have considered resignation right then and there but for Loki.

She was in love with him. There was no denying it anymore. He was arrogant, sarcastic, slightly crazy, self-important, a condition born of years and conditions that she wasn't so sure he could or would change, that was the worst of it. No, she shook her head, that wasn't the worst of it, the worst was that she loved him in spite of all that, because of his quick wit, his vulnerability sitting just beneath the surface, his desperation to be accepted, to be loved, his passion, and at the basest level, his beauty in form and speech and demeanor. He was more than handsome or fine, she could see the bearing of royalty in him, in his features, could hear it in his voice, and for all this had her heart melted.

Loki wandered the ballroom aimlessly, seeking his brother, Thor of all people. He chuckled to himself, his eyes wet. He put a hand to his face, could smell the faint trace of her perfume, making him stumble so that he had to catch himself on a nearby table to recover his senses.

He had wanted to possess her utterly, take her, claim her for his own. It mattered little what she was, human, mortal. He was well aware of what love was but he had denied it to himself for so long that he had thought he was no longer capable of it. He would have carried her to his bedchamber had they been at his quarters and he'd half considered asking her to steal away with him but he had been sharply aware of what they'd done. The sacrifice she had made in the merest touch of their lips. He had driven her back with his words, oh gods the things he had said to her. Another shudder ran through him and he had to force himself not to turn back and rush to the foyer where he expected she'd still be.

He scanned the crowd for Thor but didn't see him, stopped, craned his neck towards the large pillars to the foyer beyond, finally turning back as he knew he would. When he reached the place where he'd left her, she wasn't there. He caught the cloak room attendant staring at him and he trotted over to her.

"The woman I was here with moments ago. Did she return to the ballroom?"

The attendant shook her head, "No, she took her wrap and her purse and left. She said she was sick."

He stood there a moment then, staring at the floor, looked back to where they'd been standing and returned with a slow resigned gait to the ballroom to sit and wait for his brother to find him.


	9. Chapter 9

She hung the dress on its hanger and hooked it over the bathroom door, smoothed the wrinkles out of it and sighed. She'd almost turned back herself once or twice on the way home but kept moving her feet forward. She called Lizzie when she'd arrived and as expected, she already knew Sarah had left early, though not why she'd done so. Sarah was grateful Charlie had missed the kiss, and the dance as well but she knew there had been other people who'd seen her. She needed out of town for a few days, a vacation to Rutland, to relax with Mom and Dad. She would put in for a week after the Fourth of July.

She sat on her couch and turned the TV on, pulling her hair out of its bun and shaking it free, turned the TV off again, put her feet up underneath her, sat there until the silence fairly roared in her ears.

She walked into the bedroom, pulled on a pair of jeans, an old t-shirt, her sneakers and her shoulder holster, donning a jean jacket, she grabbed her apartment keys, her I.D. and headed out the door.

She nodded to Mister James as he sat behind the security desk. "What brings you here at this hour, Miss Miller?"

"I have some work I need to get done." She passed her security badge over the wall panel at the main door beside the security desk.

"Weren't ya' supposed to be at the Gala at Mister Stark's tonight?"

Sarah nodded, half in and out of the doorway, "I left early. Who knows, maybe I'll be cleaning out my desk this week."

Mister James waved at her, "You're a good agent, they might tear ya' a new asshole but they won't get rid of ya'"

Sarah smiled at him, "From your mouth to God's ears."

She sat down at her desk in her cubicle. At least the silence was not as all-consuming here as it had been at her apartment. She turned on the computer, walked down the row of silent cubicles in her section, to the small break room and took a bottle of water from the fridge. By the time she returned to her desk, the computer was up and running. She opened the file folder named 'Transfers' brought up the file within and started to edit it. After an hour, she was satisfied it was ready to be printed when she needed it and she closed the file. She put her arms on the desk and put her head down for a minute, weary to the bone, needing to close her eyes, to rest, before she walked back to her apartment.

Loki took the jacket of his suit off , draping it over his arm. Thor had ridden in the limousine with Loki back to S.H.I.E.L.D., walking him inside though Loki had told him he needed no babysitter.

He walked down the dim corridor towards the elevators, glancing at the door to Sarah's section as he passed, suddenly coming up short and turning around. She was there, behind the door, but her mind was not focused, she was asleep.

He stood before the door and it hissed open. He stared into the faint glow of the emergency lights down the rows until he spotted her and crept quietly up from behind. She was bent over her desk, head on her arms. He bent over her, ready to jump back should she wake suddenly, but she stayed as she was. He reached out then, brushing her hair from her face and spoke barely above a whisper,

"I will not suffer myself to believe you came here to wait for me, were it that it was true, then I would take you in my arms, bear you to my bed and beg your forgiveness and your favor. My tongue is freed in your silence so that I might say what I will without fear of reproach or mockery, " He drew his coat from his arm, opened it up and draped it across her shoulders, leaned closer still and touched his lips to her forehead, "I must hope now that there will be wrought between us some lasting change, for hope is all I have..I love thee, Sarah."

The hiss of the door as it closed again, caused Sarah to shift a little bit but she didn't waken until nearly sunrise that next morning, stretching the soreness from her muscles when, Lily, the agent the next cubicle over from hers, shook her awake. "I thought I was going to be the only one in the office on a Sunday, Sarah." Sarah looked around the office and then at her computer.

"Oh Jesus, I was here overnight. I'll be sorry for it later."

She remembered bits of a dream from the night, that Loki had come to see her, stood above her, stroked her hair but said nothing just stood and watched her.

Sarah shook her head and stretched once again, the jacket finally falling to the chair behind her. She pulled it around in front of her, lifted it to her face and breathed in. He had been there last night, she closed her eyes, keeping the jacket to her cheek for a bit longer than she should have, then draped it over the back of her chair. She would bring it to him in a few days. She had decided that her plans were going to change.

"You're not coming up for the fireworks?" Lizzie whined.

"No I'm staying here, I've got something planned." Sarah looked up at the ceiling in her bedroom.

"Mom and Dad will be upset." She heard the petulance in Lizzie's voice.

"Well I'll come up for a while but I want to be home that night."

"I guess so, and you won't tell me what's going on either, right?"

Sarah got up off the bed and walked to the bedroom window, looking out at the city lights, "Nope, I'd rather not jinx it, not that it's probably not jinxed already. I'll come up for a bit for the barbecue okay?"

Lizzie agreed reluctant but satisfied and they hung up. She was sure she was crazy for what she was thinking but she had to do what her heart told her to once in her life.

Daniel was standing at the passenger side door when she got out of Lizzie's car in Far Rockaway the morning of the fourth. He took the Tupperware dish of fruit salad that she handed him and headed for the house. The condensation on the bowl had dampened her shorts and hands and she wiped them on her red tank top before she picked up the cooler from the back seat.

"Sarah bean!" Her father came down the front steps of the porch and took the cooler she was carrying.

"Lizzie said you weren't going to come today." Dan Sr. turned, backed up into the front door to open it.

"No I said I wasn't staying for the fireworks." She followed him up the stairs and into the house, closing the door behind her, hearing a muffled "Hey"

She opened the door again, "Sorry Liz, I forgot you were behind me."

"I almost wasn't." Lizzie walked through the living room into the kitchen with two bags, setting them on the kitchen table.

Daniel came running into the house from the back door. "Daddy says he needs the ice for the cooler!"

"Daniel Joseph! Must you yell?" Lizzie put her hands to her head.

"And the pair of tongs from the silverware drawer!" Came a voice through the window.

Sarah walked to the silverware drawer and pulled out the tongs, "I've got it."

She walked down the back steps into the yard where Charlie was standing before a grill, watching the temperature gauge on it. "Gotta get it the right temperature, I didn't know you were here already."

He took the tongs from Sarah. "So what happened to you Saturday night?"

"I was sick so I went home."

"Without telling anyone? Did Fury line you out?"

Sarah shrugged, "He read me the riot act for about twenty minutes then said that if it happened again I should call and wait for a replacement before leaving."

"So he didn't say anything about the rest of the evening?"

Sarah folded her arms before her. "Like what?"

"He didn't mention anything about that little dance of yours?" Charlie bent down and took a bowl of chicken marinated in barbecue sauce out of the cooler in front of him, closed the cooler again and set the bowl atop it.

"You're damn lucky people were too busy to bother when you were dancing with the enemy."

Sarah rubbed her arms as if cold but it was merely to hide the gooseflesh popping up there.

"I was being polite, he was all alone and I asked him to dance."

"That's an interesting interpretation of polite. You had better steer clear of him, keep your professional wits about you. He is not to be trusted."

Sarah nodded, "I'm going to go inside and help Lizzie."

"I'm telling you Sarah, be careful."

She gave her mother, Annie a kiss as she walked past her up the stairs and into the kitchen, walked to the table and sat down beside where Lizzie was mixing the macaroni salad in a large metal bowl. "So now are you going to tell me why you aren't going to stay for fireworks?"

Sarah picked a few noodles out of the bowl, "Only if you can keep your mouth shut. I'm going back to the city to watch them with a friend."

Lizzie's eyes widened, "A boy or a girl?"

"A friend."

Lizzie nodded, "A boy. Who is it? What's his name?"

"It's a secret." Sarah got up from the table, walked to the counter where the red plastic cups were stacked and grabbed one.

"You dating?"

"No, just friends." Sarah opened the fridge door, pulled out a pitcher of pink lemonade and poured herself a cup, feeling the flush run up her neck to her face.

"You're such a bad liar, I can see it, where's he from?"

"New York," She leaned against the counter behind Lizzie and shook her head, a feeling of vertigo coming over her for the merest fraction of a second and then just as swiftly disappearing.

"Where does he work?" Lizzie turned with the bowl and placed it on the counter beside two other bowls.

"At the office."

"Another agent?" Lizzie cocked her head to one side.

"No he works in the mail room."

"Mail room?" Lizzie paused, then her mouth hung open, "No, no, no, no!"

"What, what?" Sarah cried.

"I know who it is!"

Sarah put her hands on her hips, "Okay who?"

"It's that freak, Loki! I warned you before and I'm warning you again, he is dangerous on a whole different level. You had better talk to Charlie." Lizzie started for the back door,

"Now why do you think it's him?"

"Because you've been talking about him, you're in charge of him and they've put him working in the mail room."

"How did you know?" Sarah shoved her hands in the pockets of her shorts.

"Uh, Charlie? They said they had put him there to learn a little humility. Plus he said you danced with Loki at the gala so it all adds up."

Sarah put her hand on Lizzie's arm, "Please don't say anything to Charlie will you?"

Lizzie turned to her, a worried look on her face, "I'm terrified for you, you're asking me for a lot."

"I'll be okay, I'll go armed, I'm begging you, I'd get down on my knees if you wanted me to."

Lizzie shook her head, "I'd rather you stayed here."

"I need to talk to him, I can't do that from here."

Lizzie put her arm around Sarah's shoulders, "You want me to go with you?"

"Oh no, he wouldn't talk with you around, he doesn't know you. You'll have to trust me."

"I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about him"

He lay on his back, panting, on the floor of the training room, bathed in sweat, limbs splayed out, bo staff held loosely in his fingers. He had seen Sarah that Tuesday afternoon for the first time since the gala but only from a distance. He'd handed the mail to one of her co-workers at the door of the office, expecting her to be at her cubicle but she wasn't there. He'd gone down to the cafeteria, grabbed a water bottle and sat at one of the tables by himself and then she'd walked in to the cafeteria door at the other end of the room. She was walking with her head down, her mind somewhere else. His mind however, was right where it had been for days. He watched her get in line, could feel his heart start to race, and he got up, striding from the room before she could see that he was there.

Now he lay there in the silence of the glass and white padded room. It was a useless effort but he felt he must try. He closed his eyes, put his hands to his temples and cast out into the sludge of the surrounding city, breaking through the thoughts that glowed green, red, blue in his mind.. getting a babysitter, choosing a restaurant, filing for a divorce, stealing a gun. Gasping with the strain, his back arching off the canvas, teeth bared, he searched until he found her thread, followed it but she was so far away all he could reach were emotions. Fear, worry, anticipation, anxiety…even anger, a few words loud enough in her mind for him to hear, "my job", "dangerous", "terrified" and then he let go, returning to the training room with a cry of rage, rising from the floor to stand.

It had been pure luck that he hadn't returned to her. That she hadn't called the other agents at the gala to come and take him down. He could only surmise she'd been too stunned to do so. There was much more at stake than two hearts. He should have known that love was too much to hope for. With a roar, he raised the staff and drove it downward into the canvas to the metal beneath where it splintered and stuck fast, letting it go and running from the room, the staff waving back and forth from the impact.


	10. Chapter 10

Loki sat up in bed at the beep that sounded through his quarters and looked over at the clock on the nightstand. "Only just half past eight?" He put the book he'd been reading down on the coverlet beside him and swung his legs over to the floor. "Enter!" He shouted as he stood up, tying his breeches at his waist and stopping at mid bow as Sarah walked into the living room. Her smile danced nervously upon her face as she crossed the room to stand in the bedroom doorway.

"You busy?"

Loki stared at her.

"Are you comatose?" Sarah leaned on the door frame.

He practically had to force himself to form words. All he could see with her in front of him was the way she looked the night of the gala. "I was reading."

She looked at the bed where the book lay face down, open, and picked it up, careful not to lose his page, "Of Mice and Men? Do you understand any of it? I mean this was set in the depression of the thirties. Do you have a frame of reference for it?"

He took the book from her hand, "I understand it well enough." He closed the book and set it on the bed.

"You lost your.."

"What has brought you to my quarters at this hour?" Loki interrupted her with a hand brought upright before her.

"Come on get a shirt on, I wanted to show you something, "

Loki stood there, bit his lip, then turning, walked over to the closet, "Most likely the butt of your pistol against my skull."

Sarah sighed, put her hands atop her head, "Loki, could you just keep your inner thoughts….inner? Now come on get dressed."

He yanked a gray t-shirt from a hanger and pulled it over his head. "I find it increasingly difficult to understand your penchant for activities involving the crack of dawn or the witching hour."

"You'll like this, I promise."

She walked back out into the living room and stood there, waiting for him to follow. He walked a bit slower out into the living room where she opened the door and they walked out into the silent corridor.

In the elevator, Sarah looked at Loki, "You're barefoot?"

"Are we stepping out?"

"Well no but.."

Loki crossed his arms, "Then I am barefoot."

She shook her head and pressed the button on the panel for Roof level.

"Ah yes, throwing me from the rooftop. One does wonder how you will make it seem like an accident."

Sarah reached out and hit the stop button, "Okay, I'm done." Her hand was inches from the button reading 3 when he took hold of her hand.

"Please, don't. Forgive me, I will try to hold my tongue."

"Try?" She hit the button for the rooftop again.

"Yes, try. Would you rather have me struck mute?"

"It would be a nice change."

"And now who looses words like arrows?"

The elevator door slid open to the lower landing pad and they stepped out, walked to the stairs for the upper landing pad and climbed up them, emerging into the night, the glow of the city around them, Loki standing at the top stair. "My perimeter bracelet is still active, will I be safe outside?"

"Yes, it has a ten foot leeway around the whole building, Come on, it's nine already."

She took his hand and led him over to the retaining wall at the edge of the roof. She leaned on the ledge and looked out over the river, half blocked by Stark Tower a short distance away.

"I have seen this vista before, what makes tonight any different?" Loki leaned at the edge beside her.

"Just wait" Somewhere far in the distance, a small volley of fireworks was going off, "It's still a bit early yet."

"For this you dragged me up here?"

"You're still not trying hard enough to keep your mouth shut." Sarah growled.

They were quiet for a few minutes, taking in the lights, the activity of the city far below and around them, and when Loki spoke, his voice was low,

"Thor told me you were considering tendering your resignation after Saturday."

Sarah didn't face him but nodded. "Still am but I'd probably just go with a transfer."

The first volley of fireworks startled them both and they watched the sky light up across the harbor.

"So you would leave me in the care of a complete stranger? A truer mark of friendship there never was." Loki looked over at Sarah who wore a perturbed expression.

"Friendship, with a mere mortal, a lowly human? Unheard of."

Loki glanced away to watch the next volley, "Why must you use my words against me?"

"Hey you took the first shot, I'm just returning fire." Sarah turned to look at him,

"If you could spar with your body as well as you did with your words, you would be a fit match for the finest warriors in Asgard."

"Do you count yourself among them?" Sarah watched his smile build,

"Then all I need is a bracelet."

Loki glared at her, "We are truly at odds are we not?"

Sarah watched the fireworks light up the skyline, "That does seem to be the case." And suddenly Loki was right at her elbow, making her turn to look at him,

"Why did you leave the night of the gala?" his hand was at her elbow and she stepped back from him,

"You were the one that ran away from me, and you said horrible things, acted like I wasn't fit to tie your boots." Sarah threw her hands in the air,

"Why did you not follow me?" He turned away from her, starting to pace.

"Did you not just hear me?" Sarah walked up to him and stood in his path, "The only reason I might have followed you that night would have been to put my pretty little shoe up your ass."

He grabbed her arm, "Your eloquence astounds me, Sarah. Yet you've not answered my question."

She pulled away from him, "You were the one who should have been following me, you were the one with the reason to apologize."

"Do you not think that I would have followed you had it been within my power to do so? I returned to look for you."

"Well you were too late."

They turned, watching the grand finale as it drowned out their words. As the last volley faded, Sarah turned and started for the rooftop door, her steps quick, causing Loki to trot up behind her, surprised at her rapid departure.

"Out of sheer morbid curiousity," She said as they walked to the elevator, "What would you have said to me if I'd still been there?"

He watched her press the button for the third floor. "I do not know. Perhaps I would have said nothing."

She suddenly wished she had listened to her sister, this had been useless, she was angry and he was as impolite and cryptic as ever.

"Well then what would have been the point?"

The elevator door opened, they walked down the hall, stopping at the door to his quarters.

"I've had enough fun tonight." She sighed, looked at him where he stood, head down staring at his feet, and started to walk down the hallway back towards the elevator.

She was halfway there when she heard Loki, "Sarah,"

She stopped and ventured a glance back. "What is it?"

"We are indeed more alike than I care to admit, in body and in mind, with the same misgivings, weaknesses and fears, for though I am a warrior, there is no armor sturdy enough to ward off the slings and arrows of love, yet no magic elixir or incantations potent enough as to give one the strength to endure it either."

Sarah stood still, "You make it sound like I'm trying to poison you." She looked down, trying not to work herself up worse, but her voice was hoarse when she spoke again, "You know, this was a stupid move on my part, trying to get you to talk to me."

Loki walked back down the hall to her, "I have been talking to you for near to an hour, what more would you have me say?"

"You know what, forget it." Sarah started out for the elevator again but Loki had reached out and grabbed her hand,

"Sarah, you obviously came here tonight with something more on your mind than to show me how Midgardians celebrate holidays. What troubles you so?"

She pushed his hand from hers, "Are you serious? Saturday night? Do you remember trying to stick your tongue down my throat or do you have a selective memory?"

He shuddered involuntarily, "By the Gods, must you be so vulgar and crass?"

She crossed her arms, "Well subtlety didn't seem to be working and I figured that what happened should sort of be discussed."

"You seemed to have had ample opportunity to do so, why did you not simply state the reason you came to see me in the first place?"

"Just like that?" She put her hands out to him, "From the way you kissed me that night, I thought that would have been the first thing on your mind."

Loki took a deep breath, "it was an indiscretion on my part and so I shall beg your forgiveness."

" An indiscretion?" Sarah shouted, "That's all it was? You little bastard!"

Loki kept his gaze from her, "Of course it was, any other explanation, any other possibility that it could be otherwise, is positively laughable."

She was at him in a moment, her hands balled into fists, striking him in the chest, "You sonofabitch! I hate you! I hate the way you look down at me, at all of us, the hateful words you say to me." She felt him flinch with each strike, and she glanced up to see him, his face turned from her, impassive, tears streaming to his chin. She stepped back then, angrier now, put her hand to his chin and gave it a rough yank until she was staring into his eyes,

"What's wrong with me? Why did you do what you did? Tell me the truth." Sarah cried,

"There is nothing wrong with you, Sarah. There never was. Were it that I could ignore what has crept into my heart now, I would, if only to spare you the pain of what you ask from me. I have been without love, without its warmth, its peace for countless ages, I have feared the consequences of such a love were I ever to find it as I have here, not only for me but for the woman whom I choose to love as well."

"But why," She had now joined him, tears running down her cheeks, her voice wavering, "What's so horrible about falling in love?"

He brought his hands up to hers and held them where they were. "I do not believe in it, though I want it, though I feel it now, I do not believe it could be reciprocated. I am a monster, as such destined to be reviled, and rightly so."

Sarah felt like all the energy had drained from her as he let her hands drop from his face and she slid them around his waist, her body leaning to him until her head was resting on his chest. She could hear his heart, the beat loud and strong and hard, body trembling as he brought his arms up and around her shoulders, enfolding her in them with a groan.

"Never assume, Loki." She stepped back from him, took his hand and led him back down the corridor to his door where she passed her hand over the panel. She could feel his hand tighten in hers as they walked into the living room where the door slid closed behind them and they were finally facing each other.

"This is crazy." She whispered as he took her hand, kissed the knuckles gently, turning it over to expose her wrist, the soft skin at the pulse point where he drew a line up to her palm with his tongue, feeling her legs give out as he wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her to him, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered to her,

"I have long waited to taste you once again, to show you what it means to be loved by a god, to be worshipped by a prince of the realm. I beg of you, make me whole. Give me reason to believe I am worthy of that which you are willing to give to me."

His lips were suddenly upon hers, crushing her to him, an urgency translated when leaned down and swept his arm beneath her knees, lifting her from the floor and heading into the bedroom where he sat her on the bed, shifted her upward until she felt the pillows beneath her head, she drew a harsh breath as he lifted her to draw her shirt up and over her head.

"Loki, ah, Jesus !" She lost all coherent thought as he lunged at her throat, suckling, nipping, licking. She could feel his teeth graze her collarbone, her shoulder, her arm held extended by him as he dipped his tongue to the hollow at her elbow , the muscles of her neck relaxing as she let her head fall back, mouth open, eyes closed.

She could feel a hand at the edge of her bra, fingers slipping beneath the edge. She reached in front of her, pushing him back to lean on his knees, so that she could undo the front clasp, aware of his gaze, intent, hungry. As she shrugged the bra from her shoulders, she felt his hand cover one breast then a gentle squeeze, his hand cupping and lifting as he dipped his head, touching his lips to it, drawing the nipple into his mouth, smiling around it as he felt it stiffen at his attention. He released one, moving to the other. She put a hand behind her to steady herself, the flush of passion taking over her body, tightening her muscles, catching her breath in her throat as he put a hand to her shoulder and shoved her to the mattress, rising above her, pulling his shirt up and over his head, dropping it from his fingers.

She put a hand up to reach for him but he caught her hand and placed it at the drawstring of his breeches, "Untie me, free me from my confines." She tried to obey but the tremors running through her caused her to fumble with the strings until his hand joined with hers again, pulling the bow free. She looked up at him, could see the pure lust in the depth of his gaze as he reached between her arms to undo the zipper of her shorts, his hand working deftly, trailing his fingers through the downy hair, suddenly poised above her, one hand beside her on the bed as he slipped his hand underneath the fabric to cup her, his fingers curling upward, drawn by the deeper heat within, giving a deep chuckle when she arched her hips into his touch. "I can feel you are ready for me but I will have more of your body before I take you."

He withdrew his hand until it was at the edge of her waistband and he drew them down her body, aided by her as she lifted her hips for him. When he dropped the shorts to the side, he leaned back on his knees again, staring down at her now naked form. "A goddess for a god, it is fitting, is it not?"

She felt herself redden, "I'm far from a goddess.." he leaned over her and cut her protests short with his kiss, biting her lip gently, sucking it between his own, her groans mingling with his. He stretched out beside her, kissing his way down her throat, around the swell of one breast, coming close but not touching the areola, teasing, drawing his tongue in a line down to her navel, bending one leg upward, nipping at her thigh, kissing her knee, down to her calf where she tried to suppress a giggle, couldn't.

"Loki, I'm ticklish." Felt him smile against her skin, plant a kiss on the top of her foot and start to the other leg, now poised between them as she put her hand to his head to finger the raven strands, squealing as he bit the inside of her thigh, breath coming in short gasps as he reached the juncture between her thighs and paused, knelt there, his eyes trained up at her face. She gazed down her body to meet his stare, watching his eyes close, she felt him move, put her head back to the pillows, crying out as his tongue rasped against her and her fingers tightened in his hair, her other hand twisting the sheets. She bucked into him, feeling the heat of his breath, the sweet agony his ministrations were building within her, driving her insane. His hands gripped her thighs, fingers pressing into her flesh, holding her in place. She could feel the edge approaching, her heart pounding, sweat a sheen across her stomach, she felt his breath quicken pace, his back arch upward in anticipation as ripples of ecstasy flooded through her, reaching a crescendo as she let forth a hoarse scream, arching from the bed, pulling her fingers from his hair to her mouth to bite her knuckles, trying to stifle her cries as her body trembled.

She felt the weight shift as he stood from the bed and slipped his breeches to the floor, replaced himself between her knees, now spread wide before him. "Are you ready for me now?" He pulled her hand from the bed, "Take me in your hand," She wrapped her fingers around his length, tugging gently at him, "Guide me inside of you, I wish your will to be your own." She lifted her hips up to meet his as she pressed him against her, feeling his hips slide forward to match hers until he had filled her completely, the act itself giving impetus to raw animal passion as he drove himself into her, his thrusts rough, she meeting him in rhythm, her hands at his back, throat constricting with anguish as she felt the scars of the whip beneath her fingers. He put a hand behind her head and kissed her, their breath mingling as their tongues danced together. He lifted himself to his hands, looking down between them, desire mounting higher as he watched their coupling. He groaned, met her eyes. "You are mine, gods save those who try to take you from me." She reached up, cupped his face and pulled him closer to her as she whispered, "I want to look into your eyes when you come." The words driving him to a frenzy, he arched deeper into her, his rhythm starting to break as he neared completion, a roar escaping him as his release washed over him like a tidal wave, meeting her stare, mouth open, as she rose to meet it in a deep kiss, enclosing in her mind, his eyes, the look of pure passion.

They slid to the mattress, breathless. She stroked his hair, his head resting on her stomach, arms against her sides, hearts slowing, perspiration drying on their skin, he finally lifting himself from between her legs and easing to the mattress beside her, arm draped over her, lips pressed to her shoulder in a kiss, then closer in, she smiled as his breath tickled her ear.

"What have you done to me?" He whispered, "That I should willingly withstand a thousand lashes over again, risk exile, death, to keep you by my side?" He began to kiss her neck, softly, his hand gliding up between her breasts to cup her face.

"I doubt it's going to come to that, don't let's be so dramatic." Sarah turned on her side to face him.

"The hour grows late, and soon I will be alone again." He took her hand, held it in his, kissed it.

"I was going to stay the night. Are you kicking me out?" Sarah rose on her elbow as Loki sat up.

"My brother will soon be here to check on me. He was with Jane tonight but since the gala, he has kept a closer watch over me, I fear he knows my feelings for you, that he wished to prevent from happening what has nevertheless come to pass between us."

Sarah sat up beside him, "So you're embarrassed to have me here?"

Loki turned to her, "We have just given ourselves to one another, forged an unbreakable bond in love begotten in love. You mistake my words. I fear the consequences if he finds you in my bed. He is not one to overlook something such as this."

Sarah reached for her shorts at the bottom of the bed, "Okay, as long as you put it that way, just so you know I really don't want to leave."

He crawled down the bed to where she sat, kissed the back of her neck sending shivers racing over her body, "Oh god, yes." She let her head bow forward, "This isn't going to help me get out of here any quicker."

He sat back, grabbed his breeches and shoved them on. "It shall not help me either but," He leaned to her shoulder, "I shall have a sweet memory to carry me through the night."

They kissed once more before she stepped out into the hallway. When the elevator door opened, she was greeted by Thor stepping off and smiled at how close they'd been to getting caught.

"Sarah, how are you? Have you been at my brother's quarters?"

Sarah nodded, "Just dropped him off." She could see the confusion in Thor's face, "We went up to the roof to watch the fireworks."

"Oh, he is well then. Jane and myself have just now parted. We were at a pier, the name escapes me. I am glad that Loki wasn't alone."

"You are?" Sarah eyed him,

"Yes, my brother needs companionship, he is prone to backsliding and melancholy, something I wish to avoid."

She entered the elevator and to her surprise, Thor followed her. "If he is well and safe, I've no need to visit him. I will return to my own quarters."

She pressed the button for the main level and they stood silent until Thor tapped her on the shoulder, breaking her concentration,

"It would seem that your shirt is inside out, Sarah."

She looked down at the seam of one arm, "Nice, it's been like this all day and no one said anything except you. I'll stop in the bathroom and fix it." 'And fix the heart attack I just had' she thought to herself. She could feel the blush rise to her face.

"I'm glad I could be of service." Thor said, watched her trot off down the hallway, then looked back at the elevator. Once inside, his hand hovered over the number three, instead he chose his floor as the door slid closed.


	11. Chapter 11

Sarah adjusted the straps of her dress, felt a hand on her shoulder. "I knew you were here. I'm sorry, I could not help it, I could not bear to wait." She craned her neck around to receive his kiss, a bit off center, but tender, erotic.

"I know. Neither can I." She glanced around the uniform room, "We have to be careful though. Remember last week?" He smiled, receiving a punch in the arm for it. They had been in the shower in his quarters having just gotten up from his bed after making love. It had been a Sunday afternoon and they had spent the day together holed up, talking, laughing, he reading to her from a book she'd bought, she had made them lunch. They never heard the beep of the door, Thor's voice in the living room nearly causing her to slip and fall, Loki catching her at the last possible second.

"Brother?"

"Yes, yes. I'll be out momentarily." Loki had called to him, they looking at each other, eyes wide as their smiles. She put her hand over her mouth as Loki shut off the water and left the shower. "Stay here," He had whispered, "I shall endeavor to get rid of him," She had kissed him then, their hands slipping over each other's bodies and she had laughed as he had chided her about making him unfit to be in polite company.

"Brother, are you speaking to me?" Thor had asked, now in the doorway to the bedroom, and she'd watched Loki, towel wrapped around his waist, walk out into the bedroom yelling at his brother, "Thor if you'd wished me to break my neck, you'd have done better to use your hands than your voice, I nearly fell out of the shower."

They sat in the cafeteria at a table in a corner, their hands touching as they sat on the table, their little fingers entwined.

"Will you be back tonight?" Loki looked up at her,

"I don't think so, they're going to be doing speeches, then there's the reception. It's doubtful. I'll be here Monday."

"It pains me to return to that cold bed without you." He pulled her hand a bit closer.

The voice behind them made her blood run cold as they pulled their hands away from each other.

"Miss Miller? I take it you weren't keeping track of the time. Agent Scott is in my office waiting for you."

She turned and looked up at Director Fury, Thor standing behind him, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, his hair pulled back in a pony tail.

"I'm so sorry, I was talking, I did lose track of time." She stood up, could see Loki's eyes watching her, she met them, gave a quick nod and followed Fury and Thor as they walked from the cafeteria. Loki chanced a glance at her but was met by Thor who had stopped before the doorway and was now glaring at him. Loki glanced down at the floor, then back up again but Thor had disappeared through the doorway.

Charlie sat beside her at a round table in the center of the room. Beside them, coupled up, were six other agents.

"So you've been awol for the past couple weeks. Lizzie was wondering if you're mad at her." Charlie whispered in her ear.

"No I've been busy. I'll call her tomorrow, maybe come over for a few and say hi." Sarah took a sip of wine.

"Oh, well I'll tell her you were too busy." Charlie smiled at her and leaned back in the chair while Sarah turned to him,

"Chuck, what's wrong?"

The lights came down and the tapping of a microphone brought their attention to the front of the room where the guest speaker was taking the podium. Sarah glanced at Charlie once more and made an effort to listen to the speech.

Loki heard the beep and smiled to himself. She had changed her mind. He trotted to the door and waved his hand over the panel, his smile fading as Thor stood there before him,

"Were you expecting someone else, brother?" He strode into the room, arms crossed, face a mask of anger.

He tried to replace the smile but it was cold at best, "I was not, but now I am blessed with your company. What might I help you with?"

Loki walked to the fridge and grabbed a cold beer from it, a remnant of Thursday's dinner with Sarah, "Would you care for one?"

"No, I wish to speak with you."

Loki took a long draught of the beer, walked to the couch and sat down, gesturing to Thor, "Speak, brother, I am listening,"

"I have been watching you, Loki, for the past two weeks." He walked to the couch and stood before Loki, "I hope fervently that I am wrong."

Loki felt his stomach wrench. He rolled the bottle back and forth between his palms. "I am flattered that I seem to garner so much of your attention." He lifted the bottle and drained it, the warmth spreading over his body as he stood and walked to the kitchenette counter and put the bottle in the sink. When he turned around, Thor was right behind him. His hand shot out and grabbed Loki by the throat.

"Do not toy with me, brother!" He backed Loki to the wall beside his bedroom door, feeling Loki's hands at his fingers, trying to pull them free and he squeezed a bit harder, satisfied as he felt Loki start to struggle for breath, considered choking him out for his actions, finally easing his hold a bit,

"Have you been keeping company with Agent Miller?" Thor growled,

"Let…go" Loki gasped, bringing his hands again up to Thor's wrist. He felt a stinging pain like fire, let go of Loki and pulled his hand to himself, Loki crumpled on the floor at his feet, taking great lungfuls of air.

Thor reached down, grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him back to his feet, slamming him against the wall again. "Tell me now, Loki, my patience grows thin."

"I will tell you that what I do is none of your business and be done with it," Loki pulled his shirt from Thor's grasp, made to turn away and received a hard cuff across the face. He put a finger to his lip, tasted the blood.

"You threaten your very existence here on Midgard. She is a human, a mortal. This is inexcusable, brother."

Loki's hand swung hard, catching Thor on the chin with a backhanded blow, knocking him back a few steps,

"Do not touch me!" He roared, "I have been under your thumb these long months, even on Asgard, you were forever trying to get me to conform, to behave for you. I will no longer allow you to govern my actions!"

Thor came at him again, this time stopping inches from him, "You have brought the consequences of your actions down upon your head. I will tell you once more to cease your dalliances with Agent Miller."

"Get out!" Loki snarled.

Thor stared hard at him, then turned and strode out of the room, the door sliding shut behind him. He took a deep breath, touched his lip, considered going to find Sarah and talk to her. He needed her desperately right now. He let out a yell and slammed his fists against the wall. There would be no talking to her until Monday. He could go nowhere with the damnable bracelet, even with all the tricks he knew, the bracelet would still be there.

Sarah buttoned her shirt, adjusted it so that it was straight, then looked down at herself and realized she'd misaligned the buttons. She sighed and started to undo them again. She'd been distracted all weekend after talking to Charlie as they rode back to the office in the limousine. He had warned her that she was indeed being watched in connection with Loki. He had in fact heard it at his office which meant that if it was reaching that far afield then somebody knew something. She had reassured him that they were simply friends. That she was spending time helping him adjust to Earth. He had been dubious but he had let it drop with one more warning.

Now she knew they would have to be more careful than they had been and she kept that knowledge foremost in her mind until she saw him that morning in the hallway. He looked at the door to the stairway behind her and she knew something was wrong. She followed him into the stairwell where, after looking up and down the stairs, he took her face in his hands and kissed her, the sweet shockwaves coursing through her body. He stepped back then, "My brother has found us out."

"Oh you're kidding? How?"

Loki took her hand, "As careful as we have been, 'tis a mystery to me as well. Perhaps he has seen us when we haven't seen him."

She lifted his hand to her lips, holding it there, felt his other hand come up to stroke her hair and the trembling touch made her look up at him.

"I fear they will keep us apart from now on."

Sarah moved into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her head on his chest, "Don't say that, "

He kissed the top of her head but gently pushed her from him and was about to put his hand to her face when the door to the stairwell swung open and Thor strode through it almost directly into Loki. The three of them stared at one another for a second.

"Brother, you should be at your duties."

Loki glared at Thor, "I was speaking to Agent Miller about my duties, thank you."

Thor looked at Sarah who stared back at him, her eyes flashing.

"Finish your conversation and be on your way, then. The hour grows late."

"Excuse me," Sarah interrupted, "I am in charge of Mister Laufeyson and if I need to speak with him, I will, and for as long as I need to."

Thor turned to Sarah and Loki tensed, watching, waiting, wishing for Thor to so much as breath on her so that he could take a turn at Thor, perhaps taking him by the throat and freezing the breath that flowed therein.

"I am simply reminding Loki of his responsibilities, I meant no disrespect. You would do well not to seem so defensive." Thor looked at Loki once more, "If you will excuse me."

They watched Thor trot up the stairs, heard the door open and close above them.

"Ah damn, I think I had a small heart attack." Sarah gasped, "That was much too close."

"To hell with him and be damned." Loki glared in the direction he'd gone, "He shall not steal my happiness from me." He leaned over and kissed her again, brief this time but no less intoxicating. "However, he is right, we should go. Will I see you tonight?"

"After this? We're really going to be playing with fire now." Sarah closed her eyes as Loki leaned in at her ear and whispered, "I must have you tonight or go mad, my love. I will make us dinner, I know you like to watch me cook, I think it must be a woman thing."

Sarah laughed and he backed away, smiling. "You're a nut, you know that? I'll do my best but I can't promise. If you don't see me by five-thirty, I can't make it."

She stroked his cheek and was gone, Loki following her a moment later.

On the landing above, Thor stood, arms crossed, a scowl on his face, then he slammed the stairwell door open and strode through.


	12. Chapter 12

It was five-twenty when she put her hand over the wall panel outside his door. Once inside, she was met by Loki in a chest crushing embrace, his face buried in the hair at her neck. "You smell of sandalwood, my queen."

Sarah pushed him away with a gentle hand, "Don't say that, Loki. I'm not a queen."

"You are to me. You are queen of my heart, my mind, my body and soul." He twirled a lock of her hair around his fingers, "And you are mine tonight, I shall read another act of "A Midsummer Night's dream" for you. I quite enjoy it."

"I can't stay, Loki." Sarah glanced towards the door. "Thor is on the main floor waiting for me. He said he was going to escort me home because it was late."

Loki slammed his fist on the counter beside him, making Sarah jump and turn to look back at him. "You've lived here in the city for years, did you tell him this? Did you tell him you are always armed?"

"He knows, and he knows what I was coming down here for even though he's being polite in not saying anything about it. I told him that I just wanted to talk to you about tomorrow."

Loki's look of confusion caused her to grin though it was quickly gone, "What about tomorrow?"

"Nothing, that's it. I had to tell him something so I could let you know I couldn't stay. I didn't want you to worry or think I didn't want to be here."

Loki pulled her to him, their kiss, open mouthed, breathless, giving her pause but she broke it quickly, stepping back from him. "My head is swimming already. I've got to go, he's going to get more suspicious than he already is."

Loki tried to swallow his anger but it was no use. He strode past her to the door, as it slid open breaking into a run down the hallway.

Loki!" Sarah yelled, hard on his heels, grabbing a handful of his shirt seconds before his fingers reached the call button for the elevator.

"Don't do this!" She cried, heels digging into the carpet, bringing him up short.

"Why not?" He turned to her, body trembling with rage, "If he does indeed know what goes on between us, why do we not show him!" The last few words he shouted to the ceiling, "I want him to watch as I kiss you, take you in my arms, make love to you! I want to show him that someone as lost as I can still find love."

Sarah put her hand out to him, fear holding her touch, anger spurring her words, "I'll tell him if you want me to. I'll scream it to his face. Just, please don't show Fury what Thor knows. Go back to your quarters and we'll talk tomorrow, I promise."

Loki stood there, chest heaving, hands at his side, "I cannot live this life much longer, Sarah. What can we do?"

"I don't know, Loki. There might be nothing we can do. I've been trying to work it out in my head but with you stuck here and the powers that be watching every move we make…if you've got an idea, I hope it's a good one."

He looked at the floor, "I will try to reason with my brother, bargain with him, beg him if need be. We will be together Sarah."

She put her head down, "I love you." Smiling when she heard his murmured endearment in turn, "I have to go, it's been too long already."

She watched him until the door hissed shut and only then did she slide down the wall to sit on the floor of the elevator, trying to calm her pounding heart. She had regained her feet by the time the elevator door opened, nearly losing them again as she saw Director Fury standing beside Thor.

"Miss Miller, follow me please." Fury spun around, heading towards his office. She obeyed, too scared even to form a full thought. She heard Thor steps behind her, follow her into Fury's office, the door sliding shut behind them.

"Miss Miller," Fury began, turned to her, "Take a seat,"

Sarah felt for the chair before the desk, not taking her eyes from Fury.

"Miss Miller, effective immediately I am transferring you to Alpha One."

"Death Valley?" Sarah's throat was suddenly bone dry.

"You did request a transfer did you not? I believe it was before the gala at Stark Tower."

"Yes sir, to a different floor."

Fury templed his fingers, glanced up at Thor, standing behind her. "We have a very important item being transferred to Alpha One as we speak. I want you in charge of it and since Alpha One is in Death Valley, that is where we are sending you. Miss Miller, consider this a better alternative to resignation."

Thor cleared his throat and she turned her head ever so slightly to see him staring at her. She wished only one thing at that moment, to stick a salad fork in his eye.

"Here are your tickets for the flight. You leave from LaGuardia in two hours. We have a car waiting to take you there. Your cubicle is being packed, personal items will travel with you."

Sarah felt a cold chill run up her spine. "What about my apartment?"

"We've taken care of that as well. Our agent has been instructed to make a stop there so that you can pack a carry-on bag for the flight. You will be set up in a house in Amargosa Valley. The contents of your apartment should arrive there within three days. Anything you are in immediate need of, charge to S.H.I.E.L.D. "

Sarah held her hands in her lap, trying to stop the violent tremors that had settled through her body, making her teeth chatter together, stuttering her words.

"Are you telling me that I have no choice, sir?"

Fury sat forward in his chair, "I'm telling you that you are a good agent and that we need you elsewhere as soon as possible. However you interpret it is up to you. When you signed on here, you were well aware of the possibility that you would have to relocate at a moment's notice, were you not?"

"Yes sir, but I've been here for nearly eight years, I was under the impression that this moment would never come."

I'm sorry to disappoint you." Fury stood up and Sarah with him. "You might want to get moving. You have an hour and fifty minutes to get to the airport."

Sarah took the tickets he was holding out to her, gripped them hard, thinking of Loki. Thinking that of all times that he chose to honor her request to stay out of her head, this was the time she wanted him there most of all. "May I call my family and tell them what's happening?"

Fury handed her his cell phone, "By all means."

She had taken three tries to punch in the number to her sister's house, telling her that she was being transferred as Lizzie began to cry,

"California? Are you fucking kidding me, Charlie!" She had yelled, "What the hell is going on?"

"Lizzie I have to go, I'll call you when I get there, I promise. Will you call mom and dad for me? I'm short on time."

Lizzie had promised she would, said she loved her and Sarah hung up, handing the phone back to Fury.

"We're sorry to see you leave, Sarah." Thor put a hand on her arm, she having all she could do not to shrug it off.

"Stay safe Miss Miller." Fury reached out his hand, she shook it but her hand remained limp.

"Come Sarah, I'll walk you to the car." Thor pulled her arm towards the door. Once outside in the hallway, she yanked her arm from his grasp.

"I am sorry Sarah," Thor said as they walked out of the office to where the car was waiting at the curb. He opened the door for her and she glared up at him,

"I'm afraid I don't believe you." She sat down in the back seat and he closed the door behind her, as the car drove away from the curb, she looked back to see Thor, his head down, arms crossed as he turned and disappeared back into the building.

Loki left the bin at the door and walked into the office, in his hand, mail for Sarah. He'd planned on lingering for a minute to talk to her. At least in the middle of the office with people watching them, it would seem harmless even if he planned to press a note into her hand below the last piece of mail.

He nearly walked past her cubicle, only stopping when Lily poked her head around the wall to stare at him. He turned to his left, his hands crushing the mail, his breath catching in his throat. He whirled around to stare at Lily, who retreated back into her cubicle, wide-eyed. He came around the wall and leaned over her shoulder, close to her ear. "Where is she?"

Lily eased away from him, still wearing a look of shock upon her face, "She's been transferred."

"Where?" Loki growled, leaning in closer.

"I don't know. People were saying she was transferred to Alpha One but that's in Death Valley.."

Loki stood up, turned and headed for the office door. In the hallway, he grabbed the bin, wheeling it to the elevator at the end of the hall, his hands gripping the handle hard enough to leave impressions on the metal.

Once in the elevator, he looked down at his wrist. The bracelet glinted in the light. He hooked his finger beneath it and twisted his hand. The snap echoed in the empty elevator. He dropped the bracelet in the bottom of the bin as the door slid open. He wheeled it out of the elevator and into the mail room where Raul was standing at a long metal table filled with plastic totes.

"Raul, I need to take a break." Loki tried to still his voice, hoping he had succeeded. Raul glanced up at him and nodded,

"Okay, I'll be here."

Loki stood in the bathroom, leaning over the sink, his mind racing. He had to get to her somehow. A couple of men came into the bathroom, one of them giving him a backward glance. He closed his eyes, searching for, finding a name in the mind of the man who had looked at him, "LaGuardia."

Loki strode into the library past the desk and into the stacks where he found an atlas, brought it to a nearby table at the end of the aisle he was in, and flayed it open. "Death Valley," He muttered, turned to the index. California, he looked up, staring out the window for a minute, then slammed the atlas shut.

Time was ticking slowly away, he had to move fast before he was truly missed. He walked into his quarters, directly to the bedroom where Sarah had left the change from her jeans on the nightstand the night they'd chased each other around the bedroom, laughing like children until he'd caught her by lunging across the bed at her, the memory alone making him drop to his knees by the bed, gasping, the pain of having her torn from him so sharp it was nearly physical.

He stood, gathering the change into his hand. Five dollars, they had talked about the subway, about how much it cost to get around the city. He shoved the money in his pocket, this was the easy part. The hard part would be getting out of the building, then to the airport. Once there, he would know what to do but first he had to make it there. It had been ages since he'd done what he was about to do but he was too far gone now. She was all he could see and he kept her in his mind as he hit the hallway on a dead run for the stairwell.

The agent he passed on the stairs never looked back as the man with the dark hair reached the landing below him, the air around him shimmering bright gold green as his features changed, rearranged themselves. He walked up to the mirrored door leading to the outer entrance on the first floor, startling himself at first, then smiling.

As the door opened, Mister James looked up, "Forget something Mister Grant?"

Loki nodded, "I did indeed." Opened the door and was then standing on the street, gazing up at the buildings above him. He started walking.

Sarah looked in the mirror in the bathroom, her eyes red and puffy. She'd been crying since the plane had slipped into the darkening sky over New York, now, standing in the terminal at McCarran International airport, she felt more alone than she ever had in New York. She looked around her at the nearly deserted terminal. The agent who had dropped her off at LaGuardia, had said she would be meeting with another agent here who would take her where she had to go in Amargosa Valley but she had no idea what they looked like or where she was supposed to meet them. She looked out the windows at the jets sitting on the tarmac and was wondering how quickly she could get another ticket back to New York when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see a woman dressed like her in the same agent's uniform she was coming to loathe, smiling. "Miss Miller?"

Sarah nodded. "Sarah Miller." She held out her hand and the woman took it. "I'm Carla Petty. Come with me. I'll take you to your house."

Loki watched the man walk into the bathroom at Laguardia, his head was throbbing from the effort it had taken to find someone he could use. He was beyond exhaustion but he knew he might not get another opportunity like this. He had listened to the man, a tall thin blond in a three piece suit, talk over the phone to someone, perhaps his wife for the way they seemed to be arguing. He was traveling alone and would be landing in Las Vegas, the closest major airport to Death Valley. Loki walked into the bathroom behind the man, his breath rapid as he swept the interior, seeing no one. The man was facing the urinal, his hand at the zipper of his slacks when Loki swung his elbow around into the back of the man's head, bouncing it off the porcelain wall tiles with a resounding crack. He caught the man as he slid down the front of the urinal and dragged him to one of the stalls, sitting him on the toilet, exchanging his jacket for the one he was currently wearing. He patted the inner pocket of the jacket, pulled out the airline tickets and studied them as he exited the stall, closing the door behind him, leaving the man slumped backwards on the toilet. He picked up the small satchel the man had set beside him on the tile floor and headed back out into the bustling terminal.

The security guard watched the screen as the satchel that the tall blond man had handed him passed through the X-ray machine. Clothes, aftershave, a magazine, a dildo. The woman glanced at him, then back at the screen thinking to herself "to each his own I guess".

"You're clear. Next please." Loki took the satchel from the conveyor and walked to a narrow archway where another guard stood.

"Empty your pockets and walk through the archway. Loki took out a set of keys to what he knew not, a handful of change and dropped it in the little bin beside him, walked through and watched the guard as he wrote something down on a small notepad.

"Okay, take your items and don't forget your bag." Loki smiled at him and joined the line of passengers heading down a long corridor.

Fury sat at his desk, head in hands. "And you didn't think to give me this relevant information why?"

"Because he has not done anything like this in ages. He used to shape shift when we were younger, it was one of his favorite tricks. I never thought that he would use it here. He is inexperienced here on Midgard. How far could he get?"

Fury stood up from his desk, "Well outside the building is far enough don't you think? Now agent Bain said she mentioned Death Valley to him. Seems no one knows how to keep secrets around this damn place so we can be reasonably sure he's headed that way."

Thor shook his head, "He has no money, we should look for someone trying to hitch a ride."

Fury gave him a wry smile, "He's telepathic, correct?"

"Well yes but,"

Fury picked up the phone from his desk and hit a few buttons, "I want a monitor on all suspicious activity at JFK and LaGuardia. Anything out of place." A pause, "yes, and report back to me."

Fury returned the phone to its cradle, "I want you to meet me at the landing pad in fifteen minutes. We're heading to Alpha One."

Thor looked at him curiously, "Do you really think he will make it that far?"

"I'm counting on it," The ringing of the phone interrupted him and he scooped up the receiver. "Talk to me,"

Thor watched Fury's face change from anger to satisfaction as he listened. "Call McCarran International, tell them this man is not to be approached. Let him leave the terminal." He paused, "Make them understand how dangerous he is and if they don't understand, tell them again." He took the receiver and tossed it to his other hand before replacing it again in its cradle.

"Security found a man unconscious in a bathroom stall at LaGuardia. His original destination was Las Vegas and his flight took off an hour ago with him aboard."

Fury was around the desk, donning his jacket.

"But Director, why don't we apprehend him in Las Vegas when he steps off the plane?"

Fury picked his cell phone up from the desk, "Because we won't know if he's altered his appearance again. He's not looking for Sarah to hurt her, he wants to find her and if we wait until he reaches her, we can be sure we have the right person, then we take him down."

Thor looked at the ground, "Might I have that pleasure sir?"

Fury glanced at Thor, "We will have agents to take care of him, I want you as backup, understood?"

Thor nodded, his jaw clenched.

"Okay, fifteen minutes and counting at the roof."

Thor stood in the hallway and watched Fury as he entered the elevator. He thought about calling Jane, telling her he would not be able to see her tonight but decided against it. He would sound rough, he knew it. His hands itched to take Loki and bash his skull into the pavement until he was incoherent. He stalked off in the direction Fury had taken, his face set in anger.


	13. Chapter 13

Agent Petty and Sarah walked down the stairs that had been wheeled up to the jet at Furnace Creek Airport in the town of the same name. If a place could have been hated quicker, she'd never been to it. The heat was unbearable, like an oven set to broil on the equator, She turned to Carla, "This is brutal, how far is it to Alpha One?"

"Not far, about ten minutes out." They approached a black car parked on the tarmac. Another agent stepped out of the car and opened the back door for them, taking Sarah's carry-on bag and setting it in the trunk which he'd unlatched as he saw them exit the plane. The interior of the car was blissfully cold and Sarah watched the scenery roll by, the sage brush and sand forming a flat flavorless vista. The White Mountains were a nice foil, the jagged peaks rising high into the sky, but she was quickly homesick for New York inside of five minutes. She wanted to get somewhere alone and quiet so that she could call Lizzie, and her parents but she was most worried about Loki. By now, he had to have known she was transferred. She planned on calling Lily and having her get the phone to Loki so she could talk to him. Not that she knew what to say, he was stuck there in New York and she was most definitely stuck here for the time being. All she could do was try to reassure him but it was going to sound hollow to both of them. She bit her lip to still the tears that threatened to overwhelm her and kept her gaze out the window.

The tall, thin gray haired man in a black business suit took yet another glance at the tall, raven haired woman dressed in a t shirt and denim jeans standing with her bag near the outer doors at McCarran International. Her eyes were what had grabbed his attention first, a deep blue green, almost iridescent in the right light. Loki watched the man approach him and smiled.

"You look lost, young lady."

Loki nodded, "I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to get out of this damn town for the last hour. I was supposed to get picked up but I think that's fallen through."

"Where are you going?" He moved in a bit closer and Loki was close to dissolving into giggles. He was close to severe exhaustion having made himself to stay awake during the flight to Las Vegas because he couldn't maintain his illusion when he was unconscious, not to mention he'd skipped breakfast that morning being still upset about the scene with Sarah the night before.

"Furnace Creek, I have family there."

"Well I'll be dipped in shit. I've got to go right past there. I could give you a lift if you didn't mind sharing a boring ride with an old man like me."

"I don't want to impose on you, I can just wait a little longer."

The man stood back a bit, smiled, "Maybe if I introduce myself, my name is Carl." He held out his hand and Loki shook it, noting the wedding band.

"That's a strong grip you got there young lady." Carl laughed.

"Thank you, I think." Loki looked outside at the cabs lined up, waiting for passengers.

"So what do you say? Care to let me ferry you to your destination fair maiden?" Carl bowed with a flourish.

"A knight in shining armor it is then. Where is your great steed?" Loki replied as he bent over and picked up the bag beside him.

"Follow me." Carl crooked his finger at her, "I didn't catch your name?"

"Forgive me, my name is Sarah."

By the time they had reached the desert outside the gleaming lights of Las Vegas, it was nearly full dark and nine p.m. Loki let Carl ramble to his heart's content. He had long ago gotten what information he needed from him. His mind was an open book, practically transparent. He wasn't amazed that Carl was an agent, he was appalled. He turned his thoughts to Sarah. Ever since the night they had first made love, a bond had begun to form between them. He had soon been able to find her in the city no matter how far away she was, to hear her thoughts though had only done so once, when she was at her sisters, just to see if he could. Every day spent with her had only served to strengthen the bond and while he'd tried to meditate on the flight to Vegas, he had found the place where she would be, the only task left, to find someone like Carl.

Loki could feel Carl's thoughts turning as they closed the miles to Furnace Creek which was what he needed to achieve his next goal.

"A pretty lady like yourself not married? Well I don't know what the world is coming to." Carl put his hand on Loki's thigh. He made sure to mark that as the first item he would break on this vile excuse for a human.

"I haven't found the right one yet. I'm young so I've got time." Loki put his hand atop Carl's and squeezed.

"Oh plenty of time, sweetheart. Plenty of time."

Sarah had awakened disoriented and groggy that morning. Jet lag had taken its toll but she couldn't afford to let it get the best of her. She had called Lizzie that night before when she'd gotten settled into her quarters and talked to her for an hour, she had then called Lily but could only leave her a message as she never answered her phone.

Agent Petty was at her door at eight a.m. waiting to show her where she would be stationed. "The scepter arrived last night, around midnight. Talk about security."

"The scepter is here?" Sarah's stomach was growling, she needed coffee first though, food second.

"Didn't they tell you that you were coming here because of it? I thought you already knew."

Sarah shook her head, "I had been told something high clearance was on its way here but I didn't know what it was."

"Yes, we have it in a holding tank now. This is going to be quite a project here."

"I hope so, I need to keep busy."

They entered a long room with tables and chairs in rows, agents and technicians eating at most of them. It reminded her of the office in New York and then the logical conclusion leading to Loki. She shook her head hard.

"You okay?"

Sarah glanced around the room, "I just didn't expect to be here at this time yesterday morning. It was sort of a shock. I left some things undone in New York."

"I'm sorry. Sometimes this job sucks and there are other times it really sucks."

Loki had slammed Carl up against the wall of the little hotel room as soon as his pants dropped around his ankles. As promised, he had brought his arm up behind his back, giving the wrist a hard pull, feeling a satisfying crack as the bones separated and cracked. Carl had screeched at the top of his lungs, a sound cut short when Loki put his hand around Carl's mouth, pinching his nose together, feeling the man struggle against him, try to push back from the wall where he was pinned, his efforts growing more feeble until they ceased altogether and Loki dropped him to the floor, panting. Loki knelt beside him, his fingers at Carl's neck for a pulse which was there, thready and faint, but still there. He reached into Carl's back pocket, pulling his wallet out, stared at the I.D. for a minute, then proceeded to divest Carl Atkins of his clothes.

By supper time, Sarah was growing worried. Lizzie had acted strange when she'd called that afternoon asking if there was something wrong, telling her she couldn't get hold the woman who'd had the cubicle next to hers. Lizzie had asked her in turn if everything was alright there in California. She had said that it would have been better if she wasn't here but other than that, she was alive.

She had considered calling Raul and asking him if Loki was there in the mail room but by the time she'd weighed that option, it was too late, the mail room would be closed. She sat at one of the tables for a few minutes, feeling out of place, then took her tray of food and went to her quarters.

"I said I need a cab from the Sagebrush hotel to…" the voice came over the phone, tinny and muffled, "Right, yes, you've been there before… How long do you think it'll take?" Loki had recalled Carl telling him that he was supposed to be there for the late shift at eleven p.m. but that he would consider calling in for a night with her. He shoved the I.D. into his back pocket, checked once more to be sure that Carl was still out, hoping he wouldn't be, hoping he would have to make sure but he never stirred and Loki stepped outside into the chill desert air to wait for the taxi.

Fury stood beside Thor in a ready room watching a large bank of monitors, a couple of the cameras in particular trained on Sarah's quarters and the corridors leading to them.

"I wonder if he'll just try to stroll right in like he owns the place." Fury mused.

"I cannot believe you think my brother has even made it this far. I wager he is still in New York."

Fury shook his head at Thor, "He's here alright, and he's on his way."

The taxi drove up to the gate house where two guards, with AK-47's slung in front of them, were standing under a bank of street lights. Loki paid the driver, exited the cab and walked up to the gate, his badge in hand.

"Mister Atkins?" One of the guards, a young fresh-faced man with brown eyes and a dark blond buzz cut poking out from under his black cap approached Loki, his hand out to take the badge. "What happened?" He asked as he watched the taxi drive away.

"My car broke down in Furnace Creek and I had to get here." Loki waited, eyes on the rifle in front of him.

"You should have called the facility. We would have sent a car for you, its standard procedure."

Loki ran his fingers through his hair, "I know, I know but look at the time now, I'm going to be late getting in there, if I had to wait for you to send a car, I'd have been later."

The guard handed him back the badge, and walked to the guard house. The large metal gate rolled back on its wheels until it stopped with a rattle.

"Go ahead, Mister Atkins."

Loki started walking towards the massive double steel doors situated into the side of the mountain that loomed before him, its lofty height barely discernible against the night sky. He cast out for Sarah, found her easily. She was in an apartment of sorts, quarters like his. He stood before the door, pressed his badge to the scanner before him and the doors started to slide open, though slowly. He didn't dare look back at the guard house. Once inside, he started for another inner door and was reminded of New York only the security guard sitting behind the desk before him was a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Mr. Atkins, welcome back from vacation. Did you have a good time?"

"Deeana, I had a lovely time." Loki answered her, his smile wide.

"I can imagine you're sorry to be back." She looked down at the monitors before her momentarily,

"Not a bit."

He walked up to the door beside the desk and stood before the retina scan, waited, knowing what the outcome would be, hoping he could talk his way out of it but he needn't worried.

"The scanner is down, Let me scan your badge, they've got technicians coming up here to look at it as we speak."

He handed her the badge and she scanned the bar code on a pad before her. A beep and a click later, Loki was strolling down the corridors of Alpha One heading for the elevator to sub level 4.

Fury watched the technician as he hung up the phone. "One of the guards reported one of our agents, a Mister Atkins arrived in a taxi. Claimed his car broke down in a nearby town called Furnace Creek. He said he was afraid he'd be late if he called for a car to come get him."

Fury glanced at Thor, "Still think he's not coming?" Then to the technician, "Call the local police, tell them to search the area for Mister Atkin's car and call us back when they find it. I want agents at the ready ." He looked at the monitor trained on Sarah's apartment and waited.

Loki walked off the elevator, his heart racing. Beyond seeing her, he hadn't much of an idea what to do next. He knew the scepter was here, could feel it but getting to it would be another matter entirely, so well was it guarded. He was sure he could get his hands on it, but stopping a slew of agents coming at him in here wasn't his idea of a good plan and it was hardly a weapon anymore. More than likely it would throw him back to the Chitauri home world and he doubted he'd be welcomed with open arms there either.

He stopped in front of Sarah's quarters and put his hand up to the panel before him.

Sarah heard the beep and looked up. She put her Ipad down on the couch and walked to the monitor beside her door to see a man she didn't know standing there. His badge read Mr. Atkins, the logo beneath the name, Alpha One. She pressed the button for the door and it slid open.

"Can I help you?" Sarah asked. Mr. Atkins seemed visibly moved to see her.

"Sarah?"

"Yes, Sarah Miller," She looked at his badge again and turned to grab her Ipad from the couch. When she turned back, the Ipad clattered to the floor.

"Loki, oh dear god, what the hell?"

"I had to see you." Loki stepped up to her, enfolded her in his arms, felt her trembling hard, her arms finally coming around him in a strong embrace.

She pushed away from him then, "How the hell were you not here and suddenly here. Another of your parlor tricks? Will you ever tell me all I need to know about you?"

He smiled and her heart fairly broke, "This is insane, how did you get here?" She took his kiss, a sweet, tender kiss, his tongue brushing her lips.

"I managed. Sarah why did you leave? Lily said they transferred you."

"They did. I tried to call Lily but she wasn't answering her phone, I swear I tried to get hold of you. What were you thinking coming here? I have to get you out. I'll give you money, you go back to New York before they come to get you."

"No, Sarah, I cannot be without you."

She never got the chance to reply. The door to her quarters slid open, agents pouring in, weapons drawn. Loki whirled around, hand behind him to push Sarah away as he stared, wide-eyed, a snarl on his face at the row of faces before him.

"Loki, stand down." One of the agents, the foremost one in the middle of the group stepped forward.

"I will not yield!" He roared.

Sarah saw his hands, arms turning blue and she stared frantically around the room for her purse.

Loki felt the ice form on his skin, build into layers upon hard layers of ice until he had a dagger in his hand. There would be no illusions anymore, he would have to fight his way through like a warrior, perhaps even die as a warrior. At least there would be Valhalla.

He held up the dagger a yell growing in his throat as he started forward toward the first agent who now had his gun up before him, shouting at him to cease and desist but Loki was beyond reason now. These humans were standing between him and Sarah and they would suffer for it.

The current of electricity coursed through his body, making him stumble but he didn't lose his footing altogether. Gritting his teeth, he swung his arm around behind him in a hard arc connecting with soft flesh, following his swing to finish the job with the dagger in his other hand, hearing a harsh grunt and a gasp as he saw Sarah fall to the floor.

"SARAH!" He lunged forward towards her form on the carpet behind him and was caught short. Hands, arms, legs holding him back, weighing him down, bringing him to his knees as he roared in anger,

"LET ME GO! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" He could see her moving, her hand starting to come up to her face, the bruise at her jaw, then he felt a hard hand at his neck, squeezing until he thought it would rip his spine from his body.

"Brother, your struggle is at an end."

He prayed fervently that Thor would give him a great shake and break his neck altogether then as he saw the device that had delivered the shock beneath Sarah's hand.

He was pulled upright and dragged from the room before he could say another word until he was out in the corridor facing Fury, his brother's arm about his neck.

"You've earned yourself a trip back home to answer for your actions yet again. Isn't it getting kind of monotonous?"

Loki stared at Fury, death in his gaze, felt Thor's grip tighten as the world threatened to wink out and finally, as exhaustion and rage and fear took its toll, it did and Loki fell limp into his brother's arms.


	14. Chapter 14

Sarah felt as if she'd been hit with a two by four square on the jaw. She had found her Taser in her purse on the couch where she'd left it. When Loki had turned on the agents, she knew it was either the Taser or bullets and when she'd hit him and saw his arm swing around behind him, she could only try to duck but she wasn't quick enough. He'd caught her on the jaw hard enough to knock her out for a few minutes.

A couple of the agents were trying to help her sit upright but she struggled to her feet, then just as suddenly sat back down on the couch, her ears ringing. She put a hand to her jaw and winced, it was going to be a bad bruise but it didn't feel broken. Carla was sitting on the couch beside her. "You should go to the medical floor. He hit you a good one."

Sarah sprang to her feet. "Oh shit, where did they take him?"

Carla got up with her, "I don't know but that's the least of your priorities. You need to get looked at."

Sarah shook her head, immediately sorry she'd done so as the ringing in her ears increased. "I have to see him. I have to talk to Director Fury." She started for the door, Carla behind her,

"He was the man from the incident in New York, I saw the video feed. What did he want with you?"

"To talk to me," She muttered, nearly at a run down the corridor. She reached the monitor room just before the elevators and badged in, nearly walking straight into Fury and Thor standing there talking with a couple of agents in combat gear.

"Agent Miller, your new assignment is working out to be quite an exciting place." Fury nodded to Sarah, then Carla.

"Where's Loki?"

Fury looked at the bank of monitors and Sarah followed his gaze. On one of the screens she could see Loki in a large white empty room, lying inert on his side, pale except for the thin thread of blood coming from his nose. She glared at Thor then turned to Fury.

"Request permission to.."

Fury cut Sarah's words short, "Denied. He is under tight security right now. We will be leaving for New York within the hour."

"But sir, he came to see me. He wasn't going to hurt anyone. He at least deserves to be taken care of."

Fury clasped his hands behind his back, "Wasn't going to hurt anyone? Let me enlighten you. When he arrived at LaGuardia, he found a man going to California and gave him a severe concussion in the men's bathroom before assuming his identity and stealing his plane ticket. At McCarran International, he hitched a ride with another man, one of our agents, and keep in mind again, he wasn't going to hurt anyone, he left this man unconscious with a broken hand and a fractured skull before nearly suffocating him. That man is currently on his way to a hospital in Las Vegas in serious condition. Whatever he is to you right now, Agent Miller, does not make him safe. He is still a very dangerous person. That is why I do not want you to enter that room because no matter what kind of agent you are, you are still no match for him if he decides he doesn't want to play fair anymore."

Sarah looked back to the screen and suddenly felt light headed. She reached for a nearby chair and Carla helped her sit down. "You still need to be looked at. I'm going to call medical."

Thor spoke up then, "He will be attended to in Asgard. He is yet my responsibility."

Sarah refused to meet Thor's eyes. "Is the state he's in now, your way of attending to him?"

Thor stayed silent but when she finally chanced to look up at him, the scowl on his face startled her.

The door to the monitor room slid open and another agent, a young brunette, walked in. "Director, your flight is ready."

Fury nodded, glanced at Sarah, "You'd better get that injury checked, Agent Miller, it's going to leave a bruise. We'll be in touch."

Fury walked from the room with Thor in tow. She watched the monitor where Loki was, minutes later, Thor walked into the picture, bent over, hauled Loki up from the floor, flung him over his shoulder and exited the room. By the time the holding room door had slid shut behind him, Sarah had already made up her mind.

The wind cutting over the surface of the Bifrost was sharp, borne with the salt air of the ocean below. Loki had climbed onto the horse, the reins handed to Thor who led him on his own charger down the bridge and into the city proper. He kept his eyes downcast not in shame but in anger, fearing if that he were to witness one single citizen staring at him, that he would spring from the horse and pull out his heart through his robe.

Thor led the horses into the main arena where he dismounted and motioned for Loki to do so as well. He shuddered, the memory of the lash not as distant as he'd would have wished. A stable boy ran up and took the reins from Thor and he put a hand on Loki's shoulder,

"Come, brother. Father wishes to speak to you." But Thor was leading him in the wrong direction, not up into the palace proper but through the far gate below the royal box, into the bowels beneath the palace where the holding cells had been hewn from the stone upon which Asgard sat. Loki slowed his pace but Thor now had his arm and he tugged him along,

"Do not tarry, Father is waiting for us."

Loki was hit by a strong memory then, the one memory that made him stumble in his tracks, Sarah had stopped him. She had brought him low so that the other agents, nay his own brother, could lay a hand on him.

"Why?" he mumbled to himself, Thor kept walking but answered him,

"Why what?"

"Why did Sarah not stand with me against Fury, and you, the others? Why did she seek to stop me?"

Thor sneered at him, "She is of Earth and she is still an agent. Did you not think she would do what they said?"

"I thought that she would be happy to see me."

"And was she?" Thor waited, listening.

"Yes, or at least I thought as much."

Thor waved to the royal jailer at the entrance to the cells and he swung the great black iron gate open.

"Enter, my lord."

Thor nodded to him and guided Loki into the dank, dim room where another guard by the name of Valent sat on high behind a tall desk, a thick book open before him, a writing quill in his hand.

"Loki Laufeyson, the Allfather will be here soon." Valent said, his voice a high quiver quite out of state with his appearance.

As they stood waiting, Thor turned again to Loki, "Agent Miller was doing her job. She is a good obedient woman."

Loki had searched her mind the night he'd been headed to the facility, had seen her think of them together countless times, those nights she'd dared stay with him until nearly dawn when she would get up from their bed, for that was what he now considered it, and leave through the service entrance two floors down. She had said once that she wasn't kidding herself at all, that if Fury had wanted to, he could check the cameras each day but until Thor had brought attention to their affair, there had been no need. He felt the sudden urge to dig beneath his brother's skin. He leaned over to Thor and looked him in the face,

"One wonders if Father would like to know that his favorite son is a hypocrite. That he denies his brother the basest of human emotions while he ruts with his pretty little professor."

He watched Thor's ire building, could hear the leather of his under armor creak as he fidgeted, and Loki smiled.

"I shall let you in on a little secret, the night you came to my apartment and warned me off Sarah? You were much too late to stop us. We had given ourselves to one another willingly, many times over, on your watch…brother." He spat the last word, watched Thor turn to him, waited for his hand to come up and the doors behind them creaked open again. Odin stood in the doorway, his staff in hand. He looked first at Thor, then at Loki, still dressed in dark pants and a white button down shirt.

"Remove these trappings of Midgard. A tunic and breeches will suffice." A servant appeared from behind Odin with a set of clothes, handing them to Loki, who stared at them, then at those around him.

"I must have an audience, it would seem." He sighed, waited, then unbuttoned his shirt, dropping it to the ground and pulling the brown tunic over his head, pushing the shoes off his feet, undoing his pants and stepping out of them. After he tied his breeches, he put his hands out wide, "I do hope you enjoyed the performance."

"Loki," Odin's voice reverberated off the stone walls, "You have once again disobeyed the rules set down by the Midgardians, and your host. You bring shame and dishonor upon the house of Odin."

"I bring no shame upon this house, I am not of this house," Loki stared at Odin.

"Therefore you will be remanded here to the holding cells, shackled and gagged.."

"Father, why?" He cried.

The royal guards who had accompanied Odin strode forward as Loki heard the clanking of keys behind him, he whirled around to see the door of a cell down a row of like cells being pulled open. Thor put his hand on Loki's neck and guided him down the aisle until they reached the open cell. Thor shoved Loki in through the open door and followed him, the guards close behind.

Loki started to shiver as Thor walked to the wall and picked up a pair of black metal shackles like the ones he'd been chained with months nearly a year before.

"Come here brother," Thor crooked a finger at him and Loki felt the hands of one guard behind him as he pushed him forward, Loki starting to dig in against the stone floor. Thor grabbed one hand and tried to fasten the shackle on it but Loki yanked it from him and backed towards the far wall of the cell.

"I will not be chained, touch me not again!" Loki crouched low in the corner as Thor made to grab for his hand again and a blood rage settled over him.

He felt the deep cold run up his arms, his legs, through his chest, up his neck, his vision changing as a red haze filled his eyes. The dagger of ice he now held in his right hand sharp and cold and hard as any steel.

Thor simply chuckled, waved the guards back and unhooked Mjolnir from his belt. Loki smiled then, teeth brilliant white against his now cerulean skin, his other hand empty but ready, open. Thor twirled the hammer a couple times, lazily.

"Brother, you would do better to let me do what I must than to suffer the indignity of being beaten as well." He hefted the hammer from hand to hand, waited, Loki shifted position and was suddenly leaping at Thor whose arm swung round, Mjolnir at its end. Loki dropped down as he thrust forward, dagger against his forearm, slashing into the meat at Thor's thigh, opening a gash like a great smile, the hammer drifting inches over his head. The momentum was too hard to stop and the hammer traveled across before Thor's body, pulling him forward and over to the stone floor with a great clatter of armor, the arm holding the hammer trapped beneath him.

Loki had ducked under his arm and now pivoted on the ball of his right foot and was astride Thor's back in a second. He took the ice dagger and shoved it into the chink in Thor's armor between the breastplate and the pauldrons, feeling the blade sink in at the shoulder, scraping at the bone going in and coming out as Thor bellowed in pain. Loki could do naught but pant, he was far beyond reason now. He reached down entwining his fingers in Thor's golden locks and yanking his head backward, he turned the dagger, ready to draw it across Thor's exposed throat unaware that he was growling as if a wild animal. The dagger was halfway to its mark when his arm was seized by first one guard then another and another. He roared his rage, but the guards had already done what they needed to. He was off balance and he started to tip backwards giving Thor a chance to regain his feet. He turned and grabbed Loki by the throat, lifting him up and slamming him against the stone wall, the dagger shattering upon impact.

"Give me the gag." Thor muttered, held out his hand, watched Loki's eyes grow wide, the color draining from them.

"Father, please no!" He shouted, flailed until Thor nodded to the guards who grabbed Loki's arms, Thor clamped his hands on either side of Loki's head, one of the guards pressing the metal gag against his face, another clamping it down behind his head. He had started to scream as it touched him and now he found he could barely breath. Thor dropped him to the floor, panting, frantic. "Stop breathing so fast, Loki, or you will suffocate yourself." Thor watched as Loki's chest heaved hard in and out, was near to unlocking it again so that he could catch his breath but finally his breathing started to slow, his cheek pressed to the stone floor, his eyes closed, sweat sticking his clothes to him.

Thor bent down and picked half dragged Loki to where the shackles were chained halfway down the wall and clamped Loki's wrists in them, ignoring Loki's whimper. The chains attached to the shackles were adjusted so that Loki was kneeling on the cold stone floor, his hands tight to the wall before his face. He rested his hands on his arms, exhausted. Heard the cell door slam shut and he was then all alone. He began to sob, silent, body wracking convulsions that eventually turned to muffled screams as the jailer sat listening at the end of the row of cells, twirling his keys on his finger.


	15. Chapter 15

Sarah sat with Carla Petty in the terminal at McCarran International, waiting for her flight to board.

"I'm probably going to get reprimanded for this. No, I'm sure I will. I just can't help it, in good conscience I can't just let him go." Sarah glanced out the windows at the airliners moving around the tarmac.

"I can't believe you're going back to New York." Carla shook her head.

"I have to. I need to talk to Thor, or the Director, anyone who will get me to see Loki."

"After what he did to you?" She stared at the purple bruise along Sarah's jaw.

"He didn't do it on purpose, he didn't know it was me and there's so much more going on than I can tell you."

Carla rolled her eyes, "I'm not completely stupid. I could see why he was here. I just think you should let it be."

They heard her flight called to board over the loudspeaker. Sarah stood up, gave Carla a hug, thanked her for bringing her to Las Vegas, and headed for the gate.

She woke, stretched, nearly hitting the man that was sitting beside her and apologized. She looked out the window at the lights of New York and knew she would beg Fury to let her come back here if he let her come back at all.

She walked into the foyer of the office. Mister James looked up and smiled. "I thought you were in California, Miss Miller?"

Sarah nodded, "I was. I'm here to speak with Director Fury."

"Gee, wouldn't it have been easier to use the phone?"

She smiled at him, "Probably, but it wouldn't be as effective. Is Thor here?"

Mister James sat down at his computer, "Yeah, it says here he's in residence. Came back from wherever he goes. Who knows."

Sarah stood for a minute, "Can you get hold of Thor, have him meet me out here in the foyer?"

Mister James shrugged, "I can see if he will."

Five minutes later, the door beside the desk slid open and Thor strode out, stopping short when he saw Sarah standing there.

He walked over to her and guided her a bit farther from Mister James, "Why are you not in California, Sarah?"

"You know why I'm not." Sarah crossed her arms, "I'm here to ask you a favor, if need be, beg you."

Thor sat down on one of the couches reserved for waiting visitors and Sarah sat down opposite him.

"Speak."

"I need to see Loki."

"Impossible." Thor started to get up from the couch.

"I can play the same card Loki was going to, only it'd be worse if I told Fury. " Sarah and Loki had discussed Jane's relationship with Thor a number of times, Loki railing against the fact that what they were doing was no different than what Thor and Jane had been doing for months.

Thor sat back down, slowly, staring at Sarah, "Loki is in Asgard."

"So bring me to Asgard. I want to see him."

"He has been chained and gagged, he is in a holding cell until the High Council meets to decide his fate."

Sarah felt the blood drain from her face, "Thor, you can convince Fury to let me go to Asgard with you, or you can spend a lot of time trying to think up new and safe ways to see Jane. You can try to sneak around like I had to with Loki. It's harsh I know but it's your call now."

Thor sat there gripping the armrest of the couch, "Fury will say no. What then?"

"We go anyway. I'm already in trouble just being here but I want to see the man I love and if that's what it takes then so be it. I'll break the rules."

Thor and Sarah stood before Fury in his office, "I don't like the idea of my agents traveling outerdimensionally if you'll excuse my lack of a better word, and you Thor, I'm surprised. You think she should see him like he is?"

Thor nodded, "Yes sir, perhaps it will soothe him, he wears himself down with grief, he is beyond exhaustion, he will not eat."

Sarah peered at Thor to gauge if he was sugar coating his statement but couldn't tell and it worried her even more.

"Ever thought of force feeding him?" Fury mused.

"Have you ever tried force Loki to do anything?" Thor countered, a small grin on his face that nonetheless held no mirth.

"How long would you suggest is a good time limit? A day?"

Sarah couldn't believe her ears, Fury was actually pondering it, she held her breath.

"A day perhaps two. If fortune smiles on us, she will see the error of her ways."

"Fat chance" She thought to herself.

"Very well Thor, you are in charge of her safety and well-being while she is in Asgard, understood?"

Thor nodded, "I will make sure no harm comes to her."

Fury leaned back in his chair, "Very well, go before I change my mind."

Out in the corridor, Sarah turned to Thor, "Are you serious about his condition, that he's not eating?"

Thor looked at Sarah, "Yes I am, why would I lie about such things?"

"Well I thought you were embellishing the truth to convince Fury. He is your brother, how can you be so indifferent?"

They started for the elevator to head to the landing pad on the roof, "Do not mistake my demeanor for indifference. Loki was my closest companion, my dearest friend as well as my brother but he wanted more. He wanted power above anything else, even love. He was reckless, dangerous, he still is. If you were to see what he had tried to do when we chained him up, you would reconsider your actions."

"I doubt that, if I had seen what you probably did to provoke him, I wouldn't have been surprised."

Thor stepped back to allow Sarah into the elevator first. "I think you will be surprised in any case when you see him now."

Sarah stood rooted to the spot, staring at a large black man in gilt breastplate and armor, his tawny eyes fixed on Sarah. "My Lord, your horse awaits you." Sarah stared out through the archway opposite them leading out of the portal, then closed her eyes. The horse, brown with white spots, a black leather saddle upon its back, stood there waiting but beyond the horse, she had seen what seemed to be a long crystal bridge stretching out into the distance, a myriad of colors streaming along its length beneath the surface, but the most remarkable sight was the city in the distance.

Great towers of gold and silver, bronze, copper, buildings reaching high into the sky, the sun glinting off their gilt and glass forms and in the midst of it all, a great mountain of a place, golden bright, reaching far above the surrounding landscape. She opened her eyes again as Thor spoke.

"Come, we must make haste for the palace."

Thor had at first kept the horse at a trot so that Sarah wouldn't slip off as she sat behind him but finally he stopped, put her on the horse in front of him and headed at a quicker gallop. They sped down the bridge, through a large set of doors, then into the city proper, ending up in a large stable. Thor gave her his hands as she dismounted.

"Sorry, it's the first time I've ever ridden a horse."

She followed Thor out of the stables and into a vast arena, crossing it to trot up the stairs to the top row and out into a small courtyard. They walked through a tall archway into the palace proper and Sarah had to trot at times just to keep up with Thor's quick pace as they walked down a corridor bordered by massive columns she estimated must have been at least two hundred feet tall, statues, busts, nameplates which she couldn't read, lined the corridors between the columns. She lifted the hem of her long sleeved green sheath dress to gain more room to run. She had decided just before they'd reached the landing pad, to change into something a little more appropriate than black slacks and a regulation t-shirt and she was glad to have packed the dress in her small luggage bag.

They arrived at length, at another massive set of double doors flanked by four guards. One of them stepped forward and bowed to Thor, "My Lord, welcome."

"Fiiven, inform the Allfather that I desire to speak with him."

"I will tell him that you are here."

Fiiven cracked the door open and slipped inside while Sarah took in the intricately carved designs on the doors, the rich red drapes on either side, the torches on the walls, the braziers along the floor flickering reflecting the light off the gold and gilt surfaces surrounding them. Thor noticed Sarah's look of wonderment. "It is unlike anything you've ever seen is it not?"

Sarah nodded just as the door creaked open again and Fiiven stepped back to allow them passage. "You may enter, my Lord."

Sarah kept a few steps behind Thor, trying to make herself small and unnoticeable. She peered out from around Thor's arm to see a white haired man sitting on a great gilded throne in the shape of a sword hilt, his elbow on one of the armrests, head in his hand. Standing beside him whispering into his ear was an old woman though she was much more than old, she looked ancient, her long white hair, flowing white gown and pale skin giving her the appearance of a ghost. Beside her stood a younger blond maiden, seeming to watch her while she spoke. When the massive doors shut behind them with a thud, the old woman turned her head towards them and clapped her hands, "She comes!"

Sarah could see her eyes then, light blue, searching the room.

"She is blind. Her name is Astrid and she is a seer." Thor mumbled as they approached the bottom of the steps.

"Allfather, I have brought with me Sarah Miller of Midgard. An agent with the place I have spoken to you about called SHIELD."

Odin raised his head and fixed them with a rheumy eye, the other hidden behind a gold embossed metal plate.

"To what purpose have you done this, my son?"

Sarah, who was getting impatient, stepped out from behind Thor, "I wish to see Loki."

Odin glanced from Thor to Sarah and back again, "No." He returned to his position, head in hand, mumbled something to Astrid.

"I have come here in good faith, I was in charge of Loki on Earth and I need to speak to him."

Odin looked down the stairs at her, "M'lady, if you had succeeded in your task, Loki would yet be on Midgard."

Sarah stared at the polished marble floor, "I admit I faltered…"

Astrid waggled her finger at Sarah, "Many times over, my child," Blind though she was, she glided down the steps, stopped before her, "Even now you would," She chuckled, "Willingly falter. How many nights did he spend himself inside you without any thought of the price when once would have been sufficient for the means to an end?"

The words brought a flush across Sarah's body, even as revolting as it had sounded coming from the old woman as well as the fact that she preferred to keep her affairs private, she couldn't help but think about how beautiful, wonderful the past month had been with him. They had taken their time getting to know each other, talking, laughing, cooking, even crying together. They'd even watched TV though the concept was largely lost on him, they had set on the couch, he would read and she would watch old TV shows on her IPad, her head in his lap. He had told her things he'd never told another soul as she lay in bed enfolded in his arms, the light from the bathroom their only illumination. They had been careless, rash, governed by passion, there was no denying it. She was totally and utterly in love with him.

Sarah looked past Astrid and realized with a start that Odin had stood up and was now coming towards them down the stairs.

"What say you, old woman?" Odin stopped at the bottom step before Sarah.

"Two from one, Sire," She cackled, lurched forward and put her hand on Sarah's stomach so swift that the maiden attending her lunged forward as well to make sure she stayed upright. "Alike but different, boy and girl," She grinned, her mouth a toothless maw, "Twins."

Sarah started to sway, and she put her hand on Thor's arm to steady herself. Astrid put her hand on Sarah's cheek, "Peace my child, peace. It is an honor to bear the children of the young prince, even such a one as he."

Her legs finally giving way, she sat down hard on the marble steps beneath her.

"Astrid speaks plain and fair. You have lain with my son and having done so are thus with child." Odin gazed down at her.

"I didn't know, I.." Sarah fumbled with the words, looked up at Thor standing above her, his mouth hung open,

"I did try to be my brother's keeper, father."

Astrid turned to Thor, "You did indeed, despite all the time you spent with your own beloved." Sarah smiled broadly, watching Thor's face turn red with rage.

Odin put out his hand for Sarah to take and pulled her upright to stand, "I will grant your request to see Loki. Thor will take you to him,"

When they reached the small courtyard, returning back the way they'd come before, the lanterns were now blazing, throwing heavy shadows on the ground in the full dark of night. At the top of the arena, Thor started down a different set of stairs and Sarah followed, "Are we going back to the stables?" Thor shook his head.

At the arena floor, Thor turned to his right towards a massive black iron gate in the wall below the stands, directly below a canopied box where Sarah could just make out two thrones in the dim torchlight illuminating the rows of seats. A guard, fat, greasy haired with a leather vest pulled the iron gate aside and they walked through, the sound of the gate closing with a resounding slang behind them, ominous in its echo. They came to a tall desk bordered by great flaming torches casting light into the small chamber where another guard sat, this one bigger, better appointed with what Sarah was becoming to recognize as royal colors, red and gold tunic with a leather vest and breeches. Beside the desk, speaking to him was a beautiful woman with raven hair pulled back tight, dressed in a leather bustier and short breeches. She turned and looked at Thor then at Sarah.

"We are here to see the prisoner Loki. Sarah Miller has been granted time with him."

The woman smiled wide and held her hand up to the guard sitting at the desk, "Here Alcor, let me take her to him."

Alcor shook his head, "Lady Sif, methinks you should have been a royal inquisitor." He handed the keys down to Sif and she motioned for Sarah to follow her. Sarah glanced at Thor who was standing, arms crossed. He gave a nod and Sarah turned, following Sif , who had taken a torch from the wall beside her, down a long row of cells. The flame cast long flickering shadows into the cells, occasionally illuminating a man here or there but most of the cells were empty. Sif stopped before the second to the last cell in the row and shoved one of the keys into the lock. The interior was pitch black and not a sound came from within when the cell door creaked piteously on its hinges. Sarah peered into the darkness as Sif walked into the cell with the torch, finding a sconce on the wall and putting the handle of the torch in it.

Sarah walked into the cell, her steps slow as if her feet refused to carry her towards what she was seeing. The first words she could form in her mind were bleak, "He's been broken"

Loki was kneeling on the floor, his legs stretched to the side, his wrists enclosed in shackles drawn up so tight to the wall by a chain threaded through a large iron link that he was forced to lean against the wall of the cell for support though that thought seemed to have gone by long ago. His head lolled forward to rest on his forearms, face hidden by deep shadows. His tunic looked wet, like it had been dipped in water and rung out, his breeches the same as they hung on his frame which had been slight at best before this.

She stopped, looked at Sif. "Can you let his arms free?"

Sif walked to the corner of the cell, reached down for the length of chain wrapped around a large bolt in the floor and began to unwind it. Sarah realized then that Loki was going to fall when the chain gave way and she dropped to the stone floor her arms encircling him just as his body canted away from the wall, even then struggling to keep him upright as his size far outmatched her. She pushed against him, turned his body so that he was leaning against the wall. She pulled his legs straight before him and heard a muffled cry. When she glanced up, the torchlight finally falling on his face, she saw a wide metal band covering his mouth stopping below his nose. "How the hell do you get this thing off?" She muttered, glaring at Sif who simply stood there, a satisfied smile on her face.

"I will be back to fetch you." Sif said as she turned and walked out of the cell, closing the door behind her with a clank.

"Bitch," Sarah reached around behind his head feeling for any lock or clip which she found after a long minute. She pushed the clip with her thumb and the gag gave way, clattering to the stone floor. She tipped his head up and patted his cheek, alarmed at the heat coming from his skin,

"Hey, come on, wake up." His eyelids fluttered at first, then opened, she watched his face for reaction but if there was any to be had it was in his actions. He brought, with great effort, a shackled arm up to her face to touch the purple bruise at her jawline.

"Why are you here?" He croaked, his voice hoarse, he swallowed and cringed at the pain.

Sarah turned and shouted through the bars, "I need water down here…" She hesitated, heard footsteps and saw Thor standing at the cell door. "And soup, something for him to eat." Thor stared at her for a moment until she waved a hand at him, "Go, damn it. He needs food and water!"

She turned back to Loki and brushed his hair from his face, feeling the stubble of the start of a beard at her hands, his skin slick with sweat and dirt. She called again, this time bringing the jailer. "Can I get a basin of water and a cloth to clean him up with?"

The jailer shrugged, "Seems a waste to me but so be it."

His eyes were now a bit clearer, and fixed on her, "Sarah, why are you here?" He repeated.

"Really, you have to ask? Stop talking, you sound like you're going to lose your voice."

She was glad of the dim light, hoping it would hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Why did you stop me?" He took a deep breath and put his head back to the wall.

At first Sarah was confused then it came to her, "I was trying to protect you. Did you want them to shoot you?"

He kept silent. "Well I didn't. Why did you come to Alpha One?"

"They took you away from me." He reached for her hand, took it and gripped it tight. "I had to find you."

"I couldn't help it. They transferred me, there was no chance to tell you. They had me leave that same night and Thor certainly wasn't going to tell you anything."

She put a hand to his forehead and he closed his eyes, "Leave your hand there, it soothes me greatly."

"You're burning up."

She heard the keys clank in the cell door behind her. The jailer stooped beside her, placed a wooden bowl of water and a piece of cloth on the floor of the cell, turned and walked back out of the cell, closing it behind him with a loud clatter.

She dipped the piece of cloth in the water, dabbing his forehead, holding the cloth there for a minute, then wringing it out in the basin and rewetting it. She dabbed at his cheeks and neck, he watching her, eyes bright with fever.

"Loki, what am I going to do with you?" She sighed, wringing the cloth out again.

"Sarah."

"She turned to see Thor standing at the cell door with another bowl and a wooden spoon. She got up and walked over to where Thor was handing the bowl through the bars.

"Thank you,"

Thor nodded, glanced beyond her to where Loki sat, back to the wall, then stalked off in the direction he'd come.

Sarah sat back down in front of Loki, took the spoon, sniffed the contents. "You guys have chickens here," and held the spoon up to Loki's lips. He brought his hand up and shoved the spoon from her hand so that it flew to the floor beside them.

"Okay we're going to try this again," She picked up the bowl, "And you'd better not knock this out of my hand."

He turned his head away from her, "I will not eat."

She lowered the bowl, "You're sick, you need to eat to keep your strength up."

"And for what, so that I might put up a more valiant struggle for their amusement?" He put his hands up, the chains singing as they slid against each other.

"No, so that you don't die. If you're already weak and you get a high fever it can kill you."

"Then let it be done and quick." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back to the wall.

Sarah put her hand to her forehead, frustrated. The words of Astrid came unbidden to her mind. "Peace my child, peace. It is an honor to bear the children of the young prince, even such a one as he." She had hit the nail right on the head.

She lifted the bowl to try again and was struck by Loki's hard stare. He put a hand out, touched her stomach, hand trembling.

"Is it true?"

"I don't know, Astrid said.."

"Brother!" Loki roared, struggling to his feet, dragging the chains to their limit, "Thor!" his voice nearly gone at that volume.

Sarah leaped to her feet and took his arm as he stumbled, put his hand to her shoulder as Thor appeared at the cell door. "What is it?"

She could feel the heat of his body as she stood, draped his arm about her shoulders, "I must speak with father!"

Thor looked at Sarah then at Loki, "To what purpose?"

Loki's legs started to buckle then, he knelt down to the floor, Sarah joining him, "Sarah is with child, I must talk to him."

He leaned forward, his hands on the cold stone now, "I must reason with him," his voice was now a hoarse whisper.

Sarah looked up at Thor, "He's sick, he needs medical attention." When Thor didn't move, she stood up and walked to the bars of the cell, "He should be in a hospital."

"I would see if he could be brought to the healing rooms but,"

She glanced at Loki who by now was bent forward at the floor, his head in his hands. "But what? Jesus, Thor."

"He is cunning, clever. How do you know he is not playing you for a fool?"

She put her hand out through the bars and grabbed his arm, "Come in here and feel his forehead, he has a serious fever, he can barely speak. I can't believe your people think we're simple and uncivilized, even we treat our prisoners fairly."

Thor hesitated and Sarah pulled him to the bars, "Do you want him to die?"

Thor pulled his arm from Sarah's grasp, "Alcor, bring the keys!"

Alcor came at a trot, followed close behind by Sif.

"The Allfather said he is to remain shackled here until the High Council meets to decide his fate." Sif peered into the cell, "You would go against his wishes, Midgardian?"

She heard the chains clanking behind her and looked to see Loki struggling to his feet again, "She has a name, whore, address her accordingly."

Sif yanked the keys from Alcor's hand and drove the key into the lock with a twist. Sarah backed up to Loki, her body tensed and ready but felt Loki's hand at her neck, pulling her to the side.

"That's right, hide your pet, you wouldn't want her to get hurt." Sif growled, watched Loki as he stood swaying but ready to pounce.

Sarah knew it was a matter of time and when Loki finally stumbled forward at Sif's feet, Sarah was before him, her hands on his shoulders,

"I'll take full responsibility, please bring him to the healing rooms. Let Odin punish me instead."

Thor pushed a petulant Sif to the side and knelt down to Loki where he took another key from the large ring in his hand and unlocked the shackles around his wrists. "Can you walk brother?"

Loki tried to bring himself to his feet but shook his head, eyes closed, panting.

Thor put his arm around his back, the other behind his knees and lifted him from the floor.

"Sif, tell the healers we are coming."

Sif glared at Thor then at Sarah but trotted out of the cell and back down the corridor.


	16. Chapter 16

Thor laid Loki on the bed and withdrew back to stand beside Sarah.

"I will tell father that he is ill. It may sway him, it may not."

Sarah put her hand on Thor's arm, "Thank you for bringing him here."

Thor glanced at the form of his brother lying prone on the bed as the healer undid the lacing of his tunic, "He is unworthy of you Sarah. It would do you well to return to Midgard and forget he ever existed."

Sarah put her hand to her stomach, "And what about this? I really don't want to be a single mom. I'd like the father to be there too."

"What sort of father could he be? What would he teach them, how to be selfish, vain, rude, arrogant, violent?"

Sarah stepped away from Thor, "You don't know him as well as you think you do. I've spent a lot of time with him, getting to know him, loving him."

Thor stared at her, "And I have lived with him for ages, far longer than you. If there were anything more than what he is now, do you not think I would have seen it?"

"I can't believe that you've not seen one shred of goodness in him in all that time." Sarah watched the healers take Loki's tunic off him, noted how much thinner he looked and turned away.

Thor grunted, "That is his greatest trick. He will bring you to the brink. You would have your hands about his throat ready to squeeze the life from him and in that moment he will look at you with those eyes. You will see the remorse there, the pleading gaze, the regret, and you will forgive him. I have done so many times over and lived to rue my decision." He frowned, "I am going to speak with father."

She watched him walk through the healing room and out the door then turned back to watch the healers tend to Loki.

She woke with a start, nearly slipping from the chair she'd curled up in. The golden light from the candles illuminated the form on the bed before her. She rose and walked over to him. She could see his chest rise and fall but the rhythm was unsteady, breathing labored. His face flushed, lips parted, body restless as he shifted position time and again. She put a hand to his forehead and was alarmed to find him hotter than before. He opened his eyes, looked up at her, closed them again. She glanced around the room but it was deserted. She sat on the bed beside him, reached over to the basin sitting on a stand next to the bed and drew a cloth from it, wringing it of excess water then placing on his forehead. He sighed, raised his hand and put it atop hers.

"Feels good." His voice was barely a whisper now. She put her other hand on his chest in a slow caress, feeling the heat baking off him. He started to cough, a dry rattling sound deep in his chest, and she helped him sit up until the spasm passed, easing him back onto the pillow where he lay panting.

"Is your throat still sore?"

He nodded, "I can swallow nothing but water. While you slept, the healers tried to feed me."

She was sorry she had been asleep but exhaustion had overtaken her and she had let it.

"I'll bet you have strep throat. That's going to require antibiotics, I don't suppose they use them here."

Loki's curious glance told her she was right. She replaced the cloth on his forehead. "We're going to have to get you someplace to get treated. Strep is serious. Did Thor come to see you when I was sleeping?"

"I do not know,"

"I'm going to look for him if I have to. He was supposed to talk to Odin about you."

Loki gave her a small grin, "Do not be too surprised at his answer to my fate." He put a hand to Sarah's belly and she shuddered. "Out of our love, we have created new life."

"Stop talking, rest your voice." Sarah put her hand on his, squeezed. He closed his eyes then, worn from their short exchange, his hand slowly slipping from her stomach to rest on her thigh. She rose from the bed, reached down and drew the sheet away from his chest allowing the air to cool him, then wandered out into the hallway which was similarly deserted. She leaned her back to the wall, rubbed her eyes. Wished for Thor to bring her any news whether it be good or bad just so that she could plan her next move. Footsteps approaching caught her attention. Thor was coming towards her but his expression was grave and her heart started to pound.

"They are calling a meeting of the High Council this morning to discuss Loki's fate. Sif spoke with the Allfather as well. They are speaking of exile."

"To Earth?"

Thor shook his head, "Jotunheim. His place of birth."

Sarah laughed, shook her head, "He needs antibiotics. If they wait a little longer, they'll be shipping a corpse."

"Anti..I do not understand. What do you speak of?"

Sarah put her hand on her head, "Medicine to cure what's wrong with him as the healers don't seem to be doing a good job."

Suddenly it all seemed so inane to her, the rules, the laws, the waiting. She had been skirting with the issue since she'd walked out into the hall but Thor's report simply steeled her resolve.

"Very well, if that's the case. We'll wait."

The healer stood before the bed, hands clasped before him. "If these medicines as you call them, can heal him then it is our duty to help you, to do otherwise would be in violation of our oath as preservers of life. We have done what we can here."

Sarah nodded, "I know, let's get him ready to go."

Loki felt the sensation of being lifted up but when he made to open his eyes, they wouldn't obey him. The fever had taken over his whole body, he wanted to stop the ache in his muscles, his throat, his chest. He wanted to call for Sarah but his voice seemed set against him as well. He heard a creaking sound, his body lurch and a forward motion beneath him. After a few minutes, he mustered all strength and opened his eyes to see the fading light of the sky overhead, stars beginning to twinkle at the edge. He turned his head to see Sarah beside him, her gaze fixed somewhere beyond him.

"Sarah,"

She looked down at him and smiled, "Hush, you'll be alright."

The forward movement stopped suddenly and then hands were pulling him upright to sit. He shook his head. "I am tired, let me rest." He groaned only coming round as Sarah patted his face,

"Come on Loki, you have to stand for me."

Loki realized then that they were at the portal to the Bifrost. He could see Heimdall standing at the top of the dais, sword in hand, a hard stare on his face.

"Please open the Bifrost to Rutland, Vermont, Midgard. My parent's house." Did he need an address or a phone number? She had no idea but received an answer as Heimdall sighed loudly, shoved the sword into a hilt built into the floor of the dais and the whole dome began to spin.

She could hear a dog barking in the distance, felt the grass beneath her sandals and the sudden weight of his frame as he started to sink to the ground. She hauled with all her strength, arm around his waist, "Loki, come on, we have to get you into the house." She steered him towards the front porch, sitting him down on the steps while she reached into the mailbox beside the front door and found the spare key taped to the inside. She unlocked the door and opened it, reached in and turned on the light by the front door, then returned to the steps where Loki sat, head in his hands.

"Get up, we have to get you inside." She hauled on him until he was to his feet and on the porch. Her parents were on vacation in Maine, this she had known when she decided where to go. She had considered her sister's for a brief second until Charlie came to mind. She knew Charlie wouldn't jeopardize his career for Loki and she didn't want him to.

She guided Loki to the living room couch and laid him down. "I'll be right back."

She trotted into the kitchen and opened the cupboard door nearest the sink. She could hear him coughing in the living room. She took down the green bin of pill bottles, packets, pain killers and other medicines that held her father's usual array and put it on the table. She had been sick earlier that winter when she'd been up to stay with them for a week after Christmas and she'd gotten sick. She had gone to the doctor in Rutland, gotten a prescription for amoxicillin for an infection and taken the first dose the night before she headed home forgetting to pack the pills when she left. Her mother tended to keep medicines just in case so she prayed fervently that she hadn't tossed the remaining pills out.

She took the bottles one by one and put them on the table, getting more frustrated until she'd emptied the whole basket. "Damn it."

She stood there, hands on her hips, gazing about the kitchen when a thought suddenly occurred to her. She raced up the stairs into the bathroom at the top of the landing. There she hit the switch and opened the medicine cabinet over the sink. There sitting on the third shelf up were three bottles, one of which read, "Miller, Sarah" at the top of the label. She smiled and grabbed it.

She had reached the bottom of the stairs and was heading into the kitchen when she heard a knock on the front door and her stomach did a flip flop. She trotted into the living room with a glance at Loki who had struggled to a sitting position and was tensed to stand. "Shh," She held a finger to her lips as she opened the door. It was their next door neighbor, Mrs. Anton.

"Sarah, oh my goodness. I saw a flash of lightning, looked outside and saw the lights on in the house. I knew your parents were gone for the week so I had to check on the house."

Sarah shook her head, "Did you bring a weapon with you? What if I'd been a burglar?"

Mrs. Anton grinned and withdrew from her housecoat a small can of mace. "I'm old not stupid, honey."

"We stopped to borrow the car actually. Mine is still in New York." Sarah looked back at Loki who wore a guarded expression on his face. She saw Mrs. Anton lean over and look at him as well.

"You're seeing someone now? Annie didn't mention that last week."

Sarah nodded, "I haven't told her yet. I called her and made sure it was okay to borrow the car. I'll tell her when they come back."

"Okay, well as long as it's you dear, I can sleep better. Have a good night."

Sarah watched her walk down the steps and closed the door. She trotted back out into the kitchen, drew a glass of water and returned to the living room. Loki looked up at her as she handed him the pills in her hand and a glass of water. She had hesitated a moment, what if he had something else, or worse if he had an adverse reaction to the medicine but it was either try something or do nothing. He took the pills and stared at them while she rummaged in her carry-on bag for her wallet.

"They'll take care of what you have. I'm going to get you some pain pills for the fever and maybe we can get something in you. Maybe something soft like pudding or jello. I'll have to stop at the store on the way." She had headed for the kitchen when she heard him,

"On the way to where?"

"We're going to the family camp on Lake Champlain. We can't stay here long after that entrance, we want to get as far from here as we can, because when Thor finds out we're gone, I'm betting he's going to come looking for us. Now don't chew those pills, swallow them whole."

He put the pills on his tongue and swallowed them, wincing as he did so at the pain they caused sliding down his throat. He drained the glass of water. "Are you after telling me that Thor has no idea where we are?"

She was in the kitchen putting the bin back in the cupboard, "No and the only ones that do are Heimdall and the healers so it's not going to be too long that everyone is going to be searching for us."

She walked back into the living room, to the key rack by the door and took two sets of keys from it.

"You've done all this for me?"

Sarah stopped before him and put her hand at his face, "Yeah, I'm going to be sorry, I know. I've got nothing planned beyond a couple of days. I have to think."

He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it, lingered there until she gently withdrew. "I've got to get a couple things from upstairs then we're going to get out of here. Lay down and rest."

She put the note on the kitchen table, knowing it wouldn't be seen for a few days in any case. She went upstairs to her parent's room in her father's dresser in the bottom drawer, she took some bills from the petty cash box that he'd had since she was a toddler, made a mental note to pay him back when she got a new job as she was pretty sure by now that she was going to be looking for one when this all blew over, if it did.

She took the bottle of pain relievers and put it in her pocket after taking a couple pills out of it. She refilled the glass of water that she'd brought back into the kitchen and headed back to the living room. Loki started awake when she touched his shoulder. "Here for your fever. Don't lay back down, we're almost ready to go."

He took the pills from her and she grabbed her bag from the floor, putting the glass on the kitchen table, she shut off the lights, herded him out the front door and relocked the house, returning the key to its hiding place.

She unlocked the passenger side door to her mother's Honda Civic and opened it for him. "I should be doing that, should I not?"

"Can you drive?"

Loki reached for his seatbelt, "No,"

"Then hush."

"It would not take me long to learn. "

Sarah was hooking her seatbelt and she chuckled, "That's fine thank you. I'll drive. We have to stop at a store to get you a couple changes of clothes and some groceries. I've got a hoodie I can wear to cover my face but no sunglasses and that would look funny at night, I'd be sure to draw attention. Maybe we could find a small general store."

"Sarah, we are well away from the city, are we not? Why do you fret so?"

She backed out of the driveway and headed north on the back streets of Rutland, "Loki, we found you in Germany just by security camera feed. Outside we could use satellite surveillance. Stores, even the small ones, usually have security cameras we can tap into. Do you see now how hard this is going to be? Even if they don't see you, they'll see me and by now, I'll make a bet, unless we can be lucky enough that your brother had turned in for the evening by the time we left, that everyone is looking for us now."

"I could go wherever you sent me."

"With that little trick of yours? You wouldn't know what to get for food, clothes. No, let me think." They were at the red light on route 7. She glanced at him as he watched the traffic out the window, his eyes luminous in the glare of the headlights, shrugged, "I'll probably catch it next." Leaned over and pulled him into a quick, sweet kiss, receiving the honk of a horn from the driver behind her.

"I know not if 'tis the fever or your kiss that brings the blood to a boil." Loki put his hand on hers.

"I hope it's me."

Sarah looked at the clock on the dash and muttered to herself. "We won't get to where we're going until well after midnight."

"So we have a destination in mind after all."

Sarah glanced over at Loki, "I thought you were asleep," She felt his forehead, "Seems the fever has broken. How do you feel?"

"Hungry, tired, and how fair you, M'lady?"

Sarah kept her eyes on the road, "I don't know. I've been thinking about what I'm doing ever since we left Rutland."

"You've no need to do this, Sarah. You could drop me by the side of the road and have done with it."

Sarah laughed then, "I couldn't do it, Loki. I'd regret it for the rest of my life." She put her hand up to his face, stroked his cheek, "I love you."

His voice was still hoarse but the purr therein made her spine tingle, "I daresay it is a mystery to me that you do but faith I will repeat it back to you a thousandfold, I love you , Sarah."

They were quiet for a time, then Loki put a hand on her thigh, "Where are we, in fact, going?"

"The family camp in South Hero. It's on Champlain." She was getting tired and she cracked the window a bit for the cool night air.

"South Hero, one wonders at the irony of such a name, tell me about it."

"The town or the camp."

Loki squeezed her thigh, "The camp, your voice soothes me as do your stories."

Sarah sighed, at the very least talking would keep her awake, "I don't know, what do you want to know about it?"

"What does it look like?"

Sarah smiled to herself, "It's a log cabin, I mean it's got all the amenities but it's a log style cabin. We have a dock that we swim off in the summer. I haven't been there in a couple years though because of work, I miss it."

"You like to swim?" His voice was low, distant and she wondered if he was falling asleep again.

"Yeah, I learned early. My grandfather, my father's father, he tossed me into the lake when I was seven. I think my mother's hair turned white that day. I'd been going to lessons at the local pool but I was afraid of the deep water." She heard a soft chuckle,

"I was but five…or you would have considered me as such, when Odin threw me into the reservoir that Asgard uses for its water supply. I rather think he meant for me to drown."

"Oh come on."

Loki patted her thigh, "He left me there. I was fortunate enough to learn quickly. What else does one do at camp? I do not believe it means the same on Asgard."

"Well we just enjoy not being in the city. We swim, barbecue, play cards, rest, read, anything we don't have time to do when we're working."

The feel of his hand on her gave her large comfort and she was sorry when he shifted and withdrew it.

"What is the word on Midgard? A vacation?"

"Yeah,"

"It is a special place to you then? Have you ever brought any but family to this camp?"

Sarah wasn't sure what he meant, "Like friends? I've brought my best friend from childhood here before but she moved out west so I don't see her much anymore."

He had replaced his hand again, "No,"

"You mean like a boyfriend? Oh no, it was a rule when I was a teenager, no boys at camp. Dad was one smart cookie."

Loki sighed, "Boyfriend, such a strange term. Is that what you would call me?"

"No, I'm not a teenager anymore. What would you call me?"

"On Asgard? " He paused, "My mate. Min stora karlek."

The lights of Burlington were brightening the sky in the distance, "Say that again?"

She could see his smile in the glow from the dashboard lights, "It means my true love."

Sarah was silent, afraid she'd start to choke up if she responded right away.

"I speak the truth Sarah. I have known no one else willing to put me before themselves. It is a wonder to me and I love thee for it, Sarah."

"Now don't go getting all emotional about it, I have something to gain here myself. I mean I have motives too. I get to have you all to myself for one thing. I'm selfish that way."

Loki smiled wider, "Then we are both guilty of it. I wish to have you all to myself as well."

He put his head back against the headrest, "We will bring our children here. I promise I shall not throw them in the water."

Sarah gave his arm a playful punch, "I am still going to pick up a pregnancy test when I stop at the Price Chopper in South Burlington, just to be sure." She felt Loki's hand on her stomach.

"Astrid knows all, though it pains me to admit it. However, if you wish to be sure, please do what you must."

They pulled into the nearly deserted parking lot of the supermarket and she parked a few spaces further from the door, taking note of the cameras on the tall poles around the lot. She reached into the back seat and grabbed the hoodie she'd taken out of her bag when they left Rutland.

"You stay here, put the seat back and sleep if you want. I'll lock the doors. Do not get out of the car, do you understand me?"

Loki nodded, Sarah picked up his hand and kissed his knuckles, "You're getting warm again. When we get to camp, you can take more of those pain killers." She made to get out of the car but he held onto her hand,

"Be safe, Sarah. Do not be long."

She opened the car door, put her hood up over her head, hoping it would be enough to throw suspicion off any videos feeds, knowing it was a weak option at best.

"I'll be as quick as I can."

The store was mostly deserted as she walked up and down the aisles, it being nearly eleven in the evening. She grabbed the essentials, trying to force her mind to focus on what meals she wanted to fix. It was a herculean task when she kept thinking about how much danger they were both in and if he was alright out there alone in the car. She stopped in the medicine aisle and picked up a pregnancy test, reading the package first, sighed and dropped it in the cart. After twenty minutes, she was at the self-checkout counter, having opted to avoid as many people as she could. As she scanned, she watched the total carefully, wanting to save as much money as she could, combined with what she had taken from the petty cash box in Rutland and what she'd come home with in her carry-on, she figured she maybe had around five hundred total. She didn't dare use her debit card, they would be able to pinpoint her location, likewise her cell phone which remained off with the battery removed.

She approached the car, peered in and could see Loki asleep, face turned away from the window. She popped the trunk of the car and watched as he sat up and twisted around to look through the rear window. She put the bags of groceries in the trunk, pushed the cart to the side and got into the car.

"Didn't mean to wake you up so abruptly." She watched him stretch and realization dawned on her. "We have to stop at Wal-Mart. You don't have any shoes to wear."

"Mmm, they are of little use when you are chained to a wall, but you have been out in public once tonight. Do you think it wise?"

"Well no," She started the car, "But if we have to go anywhere, you're going to need something, besides you Asgardians never got with the times. You need jeans and a couple shirts. I'll be quick."

She stood there in the shoe department trying to remember the size she needed. It seemed like years ago when she had stood there reading his chart as they brought him in for processing and now, though she usually had a good memory, she was beyond tired. She picked up a pair of canvas shoes and tossed them in the cart along with the two pairs of jeans and the t-shirts.

When she returned to the car, Loki was awake, agitated. "A police car was patrolling the parking lot and it stopped to look at the car. I thought perhaps that It was because of me but I had leaned the seat back again so at first was not visible."

"Did it leave?" She scanned the parking lot.

"Yes but you have said that the numbers on the front of your car can be used to find out who you are."

She nodded, pulling out of the parking space, "But it's my parent's car and they're not coming back until this coming Saturday so if there's any problem with me having the car, nothing's going to come up until the weekend. The cop was probably checking on the car because I parked it out so far from the store."

"Still I will be glad to see the backside of this city."

"Shh," Sarah stroked his hand, "We've still got a ways to go."

They pulled into the driveway of the camp on Heron Run road around one-thirty in the morning.

"Loki, we're here." Sarah nudged him gently as he started awake. "Come on."

She slipped her penlight from her purse, unlocked the cabin door, flashed the light on the breaker box beside the refrigerator, opened the door and flipped the main breaker. On the way back out to the car, she hit the light switch. Loki was waiting by the trunk of the car, moving as she popped it open and reaching around her to grab the grocery bags.

"You should be heading inside, you're still sick." She took another few bags, following him up the little flagstone path to the front door.

"Sick though I may be, I am not yet dead." He looked about the kitchen, spied the table and put the bags on it with a thud.

"You sit, there are only a couple more bags out there." Sarah directed him but when she came back inside, he was emptying the bags onto the kitchen table. She shut the kitchen door and put the last bags on the floor beside his feet, taking the items out of his hands and sitting him in the chair at the end of the table.

"Sit, stay." She walked to the sink, grabbed a glass from the cupboard beside her and turned on the tap which shuddered and groaned with air before the water finally spilled out.

"Usually before we came up here for vacation, one of us, either me, my mother or father would come up and open the cabin. Get the fridge going, the water running, air out the beds. I'm hoping the fridge will get cold quick. I've got food that needs to be kept cold."

She gave him the glass of water and took the pain pills from her pocket, feeling his forehead with the back of her hand first, "Yeah you still have a slight fever. I got some canned soup, it's not as good as the homemade stuff but will you try and eat it if I heat it up?" She handed him the pills which he swallowed down.

"I am unsure of what I am most, tired or hungry."

"Well," She pulled a pan out from under one of the cupboards, rinsing it out first, then put it on one of the burners, "If you fall asleep first, we'll know which one won out."

He managed to stay awake as Sarah put the groceries away, talking with her, asking more questions about the cabin. When she sat the soup before him, he insisted she share it with him,

"You've not eaten either, Sarah. You have been with me all this time. Please sit and eat."

She put her hands on her hips, "This is supposed to be yours."

He crossed his arms and sat back, "I shall not eat without you."

She looked at the old clock on the wall, ten after two in the morning. She took a bowl from the cupboard and sat down beside him. "I'm only doing this so we can get some sleep before dawn."

He smiled at her as she spooned some soup into her bowl. As they sat eating, she realized she'd been hungrier than she thought when she finished the whole bowl. She watched him eat, knew it was still painful for him to swallow but happy that he'd eaten something at last.

She grabbed her bag, and the shopping bag with his things in it and led him upstairs to the bedrooms.

"You can have the first bedroom here," She pointed to a large open room with two twin beds in it, one wall a large panel of smaller windows looking out onto the lake. The beds were unmade and Sarah walked to a large wardrobe in the hallway, opening it and pulling out a set of sheets. She turned, catching Loki's look of chagrin.

"Must I sleep alone without your touch to soothe me?"

Sarah hugged the sheets to her, then turned back to the wardrobe, replaced them and took out a set of king sheets instead. "I'm going to catch what you have, guaranteed. Come on."

He helped her make the bed in the master bedroom. She had to go back to the wardrobe for a blanket as the chill of early morning crept into the room. She went into the master bathroom, took off her dress, hung it on the hook on the door and changed into a t-shirt and panties which she had taken from her bag. She walked into the bedroom where Loki was sitting on the bed.

"I got you a pair of shorts to sleep in." She pulled them from the bag, yanked the tag off and threw them to him, "Take those damn clothes off so I can burn them."

He cast her a funny look and she shrugged, "Okay then, I'll wash them tomorrow. I'd take a shower right now but it's almost three, screw that, I'm going to bed."

She crawled up the bed and slid beneath the sheets, watching him as he undressed, the scars on his back, the graceful lines of his neck, the muscles of his forearms, the light hair on his chest. She huddled down under the sheets, closed her eyes, felt the bed sink as he joined her, facing her. She put a hand to his face, "The fever is gone again."

"I feel better." He pulled her to him but there was no overt meaning as he folded his arms around her and she nestled into the crook between his chin and shoulder. "Sleep well, my true love."

She never heard him.


	17. Chapter 17

She slipped from under his arm quietly. It had to be past nine thirty judging by the light coming into the room through the window. She wished she'd remembered to wind the Big Ben clock on the nightstand the evening before. She leaned over and touched his forehead. He felt cool, she decided she would let him sleep a little longer.

She walked into the hallway, opened the wardrobe and pulled out a bath towel, then walked back into the bedroom. She opened up her bag, drew out a tank top and a pair of jeans, then grabbing the bag from Wal-Mart, pulled out a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo and entered the bathroom where she turned on the water for the shower and proceeded to get undressed.

Loki was first aware that his throat felt better than it had the day before, he was then aware that there was no one beside him in the bed. He opened his eyes, squinting at the bright sunlight pouring into the room, and sat up. He could hear water running in the bathroom and lay back down, she must be taking a shower, he mused, stretched, his knuckles brushing the headboard. He smiled then, thinking of her perfect little body, soaking wet, her rounded hips, her pert breasts, her hair plastered to that delicious neck. He looked towards the bathroom door.

Sarah couldn't recall a shower ever feeling as good as this one did at this moment. She put her head back and let the strong spray pelt her chest, her stomach, the water lukewarm, her thoughts drifting back to an easier time, a childhood with many a languid summer day spent here. So wrapped up in her reverie was she that she never heard the creak of the bathroom door or the subsequent clack of the shower curtain rings. Two arms encircled her waist then and she shrieked.

"Loki! Oh shit you scared the hell out of me..." her words drifted off as he started to nuzzle the curve of her neck, his hands sliding up to cup her breasts, thumbs sliding across the nipples, already stiff with anticipation.

"You stole away to a shower without me? How rude." He murmured in her ear, giving her a light slap on her behind, making her yelp.

"Hey that hurts more without clothes thank you."

He rubbed the offended area with the palm of his hand, "I mean no harm, my mate. I have been long without your touch, without the taste of you upon my tongue and it inflames me to have you to myself again, here where we are free, truly alone together."

He nipped at the back of her neck, making her rut back against him, her hands holding her up, braced against the tiles of the stall. She could feel the throb of arousal deep within pulsing with each heartbeat and she pushed herself into him again.

"Tell me you love me, Sarah." His voice was low, hoarse from desire, made lower by the sickness and she put her head back against his shoulder.

"You know I do, I love you, Loki, I love you." She could scarce catch her breath, felt his teeth on her earlobe, tug softly.

"Were I to be struck deaf at this moment. I would have the sweetest words to savor as my last."

She smiled, craned her neck around to receive a kiss which he delivered with hesitation, "I would not make you sick as I. Let me show my love for you instead like this."

He slid a hand once more across her nipple making her groan loudly, her head dropping forward to her chest. She felt him move closer to her, trail his tongue up her spine as waves of ecstasy spread out across her skin, making her shiver. "Gods, how sweet you taste." He murmured.

She backed to him, up on the balls of her feet, begging without saying a word and finally felt his hand between them as he guided himself inside her, the friction like velvet, filling her until she felt she would weep at the sensation. He was full hard and she knew it was going to be short and intense as they started to buck together, he gripping her hips, his fingers tightening for purchase against her slippery skin, she shoving backwards onto him, whimpers coming from her at every thrust. He leaned forward, reached in front of her where her breasts swayed with their rhythm, catching the nipples between thumb and forefinger and sending shockwaves to unbuckle her body, his breath harsh and uneven. He slid one hand between her thighs, drawing his fingers across her, almost too hard, she reached down and took his hand to help him find the right pressure, following his strokes with her fingers atop his, her body threatening to spill her to the tub beneath her feet, so intense was the crest of her passion, coming in convulsing waves of pleasure that he had to wrap one arm around her waist to keep her upright, her cries echoing in the small space around them. His thrusts increased in intensity, moving her forward to press against the tile wall where she braced herself, still convulsing around him when he finally arched against her with a roar, a second thrust lifting her off her feet for a moment, his arms coming around her stomach to hold her to him. She could feel him pulse within her, heart pounding without as they panted together in the spray of the shower.

The water had gone cold by then as he kissed the back of her neck, slowly withdrawing, easing back in for a final thrust, then unhinging himself from her. She stepped out of the shower first, grabbing her towel. "I'll get you a towel, just stay put,"

She came back with a towel from the wardrobe and handed it to him as he stepped from the shower, and she went back into the bedroom to dry off and get dressed. After a minute, she felt him sidle up behind her and bury his face into her damp hair, "Sarah, oh Sarah," he murmured, "I must be left to wonder, had I had a love like this so long ago, would I have strayed so far as I had in the past?"

She leaned her head towards his, "You can't change the past, maybe you can change the future, though." She broke from him quickly then,

"I forgot, hold on." She rummaged through the bag with his clothes in it and came up with the pregnancy test. "I'll be out in a minute."

He shook his head at the closed bathroom door and knelt down to the bag she'd just left to take out a pair of jeans and a shirt.

As he was pulling on the t-shirt, he heard the bathroom door open again. She was standing there holding the test, staring at it. "Okay now it's real." She held the stick out to him and he glanced at it, raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, well that means that I'm pregnant."

Loki smiled, "Are you happy?"

She returned the smile, "You have to ask? Of course I am, a bit worried but happy."

His smile faltered, "I know," thought of more to say but held it to himself, instead grabbing her to him in a strong hug, "Let us cook breakfast together. Perhaps we could venture outside?"

Sarah turned and put the stick on the nightstand, "Maybe later tonight when it's a bit darker. I can put the lights on at the dock and we could take a swim."

In the kitchen, she took out a couple frying pans and set them on the stove. "I didn't check the propane tank. I think we have enough. If not, I'll go to the general store down the road. They're a small outfit, I don't have to worry about being seen."

She felt Loki's stare, "What?"

"What next Sarah?"

She bent into the fridge and grabbed the eggs and bacon, set them on the counter beside the stove. "I have a friend in Maine. She and I went to college in Orono for two years when I was thinking of majoring in the medical field, she owns housekeeping cabins on Mount Desert Island, her name is Roxanne. We could go there and stay for a bit until I can find work. I'm going to try and call her from the general store later."

"Sarah, is this the life you want? Do you wish to be perpetually on the run?"

She was rinsing the pan at the sink, when she replaced it with a loud clang, he was at her side.

"I would that I could turn back time but it is not within my power. Let us enjoy the day together. If you still wish to go to this place in Maine at the end, I will follow you."

She gave him a small smile, "Get those pills off the table, the antibiotics, and take one, you're overdue."

Loki did as he was told and sat back down at the table, "What may I help with, M'lady?"

Sarah pointed to the toaster, "Plug that in and start making toast. You know, put the bread in the slot and push the lever down? Just bring the bread to me and I'll show you."

The pounding on the door echoed in the emptiness of the Miller household in Rutland. Thor stood back from the door and with a yell, kicked at the handle, popping the door open and slamming it against the wall of the kitchen. Four agents piled inside, guns drawn. One of them feeling around for a light switch, finding it, switched the light on in the kitchen.

"Brother?" Thor bellowed, "Show yourself!" One of the agents glanced over at him and shook his head.

He strode into the living room, scanned it, saw the stairs to his left and raced up them, the other agents checking the rest of the house. He threw open the doors to the bedrooms, the bathroom, searching the closets, his ire growing stronger by the minute. He trotted down the stairs, his cloak brushing the steps behind him.

"Have you found him?" He glared at one of the agents at the bottom of the stairs.

"No sir, the house is empty."

With a snarl, Thor stalked back out into the kitchen. One of the agents who'd stayed in the kitchen was standing there with a small piece of paper in his hand.

"What have you?"

"A note sir, from Agent Miller."

Thor grabbed it from his hand and read it, folded it and gave it back to the agent who slid it into his breast pocket. "It would seem that they are not on foot, who knows how far they have gone now."

The agent cleared his throat, "Well we could track down her parents and see if they would have an idea."

Thor was staring out the back door into the yard, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows behind the lawn furniture, "Contact Director Fury and tell him of the situation. Ask him to procure all available phone numbers for Sarah's parents. We will need them."

Sarah took Loki's tunic and breeches from the dryer and folded them on top of the washer. Footsteps on the stairs behind her made her turn.

He rubbed his face and grinned, "Better, my love?"

She giggled, "Oh much better indeed." She brushed her fingers across his cheek, then put the back of her hand to his forehead, "How do you feel?"

"My throat does not pain me nearly as much as it did." He tilted his head, "When might I be able to kiss you again?"

"Well I don't think you're contagious anymore so I…" her words were cut short as his lips found hers and they spent a few luxurious minutes leaning on the dryer, the heat of passion giving fire to their kisses.

"Okay, wow," she breathed, as he trailed kisses down her throat, "gotta stop now."

She felt him chuckle, smile against her skin, "Very well, my mate,"

She untangled herself from his arms, "I'm going to go to the general store and call Roxanne. You stay here and lay low. Don't go outside." She picked up her purse from the window bench where she'd set it when she'd come downstairs to finish the laundry and opened the door into the back yard. "When I get back we can think about supper. When it gets dark, we'll maybe go for a swim. Next week is September, the cold weather will be here before you know it."

"Do not be long, Sarah. I fear for you." He kissed her forehead, caressed her cheek and in that moment she was convinced that the videos she'd watched nearly a year ago had been staged. This couldn't be the same man who had tried to destroy Manhattan, who had wanted to take over the world. She laughed and Loki gave her a curious look, "What amuses you so?"

"It's not amusement, I'm happy." She waited for his face to darken but he nodded, "As am I."

She smiled wider then, knowing he was keeping his promise, keeping his mind from her thoughts. "Stay inside. I'll hurry."

She walked into the South Hero general store and nodded to the young clerk behind the counter. "I need some change for the pay phone, I've got to make a long distance call."

The young girl took the five. "How do you want it?"

"How about three dollars in change, can you do that?"

The clerk opened her drawer, "Yeah that's fine."

Sarah thanked her, walked outside around the edge of the building where the payphone stood facing into the little surround covering it. She dialed 411 first, "What city and state?"

Damnit, she didn't know the proper name of the town, she didn't think it was just Mount Desert Island. She'd remembered her mentioning a cove of some sort but on the ocean that could be a real crap shoot.

"Mount Desert Island, Maine."

"What listing?"

"Roxanne Rosati."

She waited, huddled closer to the phone, finally hearing the operator come on the line. "I don't have a listing for Mount Desert Island under that name."

"What about some cove? I remember her saying that she was in a town that had the name of a cove."

"There is a town called Hull's cove,"

"That's it!"

"But there's no one listed by that name."

Sarah put a hand to her head, frustrated, "Oh wait! She got married oh Jesus, what was his name."

"Ma'am?"

"Hold on just one more minute, it'll come to me. It started with an S I think."

"I have a Roxanne Stewart in Hulls Cove."

"That's the one! Oh thank you!"

The operator's response was a perfunctory, "Please hold for the number."

Sarah waited for the automated operator to give her the number which she repeated to herself over and over until she had dialed it and she listened, waiting while it rang on the other end.

Roxanne came close to twisting her ankle as she ran for the phone. She glared at Thomas sitting on the floor with Maia, "Can you maybe reign in the terror a little bit, those blocks hurt," Thomas mouthed 'sorry' and started to pull the little wooden blocks in from the path through the living room. Roxanne picked up the phone, "Hello? Rosati's Housekeeping Cabins, can I help you?"

"Roxanne? It's Sarah Miller!"

"Sarah, oh my god, it's been so long. I tried your old number gosh it must have been this past Christmas but it had changed and there wasn't a forwarding number. How are you?"

"Mmm I'm okay. How's married life treating you?"

"Oh good, you know I have a little girl now don't you?"

"No, oh my goodness, congratulations! How old?"

"She's almost a year old. Her name is Maia." At the sound of her name, Maia turned her head and looked at Roxanne who waved to her. Tom was watching Roxanne intently.

"How are things up there DownEast?"

"Better than they are in New York, I bet. Are you still working in Manhattan?"

Sarah closed her eyes. "Um, well I'm thinking about relocating…"She paused, swallowed hard, crossed her fingers, "I was wondering if I could impose on you for a short while, it wouldn't be very long. I'm in a bind."

Roxanne walked out into the front office and sat behind the desk. "Is everything alright?" The light from the kitchen was suddenly blocked and she could see Thomas's shadow stretching to the front door. She swiveled in the chair to look at him but couldn't see his expression in the shadows.

"Oh define alright? I'm alive. I just need a place to hole up for a few days."

"Sure, yeah, we can let you use one of the cabins. When would you be coming?"

Sarah hugged the phone to her, "We were going to head out tomorrow morning."

"We?"

Thomas was scribbling on a piece of notepad paper, Maia clinging to his shins and rocking back and forth. She picked up the piece of paper and read it, "What's going on?"

She held up her finger and started to write, "Needs help."

"My…boyfriend and I."

"You didn't get into any trouble did you?"

She could be reasonably truthful with that, "No." In her mind she added, "not yet."

"What time would you get here though? I have people coming in for rentals tomorrow and I have to be here."

"Well we're going to be leaving South Hero, Vermont in the morning, or at least that's the plan. I don't know how long it'll take to get there."

Roxanne hesitated, looked up at Thomas, he shrugged and she mouthed, "Thanks for the help."

"Okay, sure. Let me give you my cell phone number and you call me when you get into town."

Sarah had her hold the phone while she raced into the store, begged a piece of paper and a pencil from the clerk and ran back out. She scrawled the number on the paper.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Roxy. I'll fill you in more when I see you."

"Hey, it'll be good to see you again, we can relive old times. You can see the baby, meet Thomas."

Sarah said goodbye and hung up. When she got into the car, she checked the time, almost four thirty in the afternoon. She was going to have to pack when she got to the camp so they'd be ready to go first thing in the morning.

Loki watched her pull in the driveway and was waiting at the door for her.

"How faired you?"

"I talked to her, she said we could come up. I told her it would only be for a few days until we could figure out our next course of action."

Loki put his hand to her face but she patted it and walked away from him, heading to the refrigerator. "Let's get some supper"

"Sarah,"

"Hush, I still want us to pretend this is a vacation so I'll bring up a subject, baby names."

Loki clasped his hands together and brought them to his lips, "If Astrid is correct and you will truly have a boy and a girl. I would that you name the girl, I shall name the boy."

Sarah nodded slow and careful, "It sort of depends on what name you pick. I don't want any weird ones…"

Loki took the hamburger she handed him and set it down on the table, "Then chose a common Midgardian name for the girl."

"Hey, that almost sounded like an insult." She swatted him on the chest.

"If we are truly to choose the names ourselves, then you must be open to my choice and I yours."

She took the onion out of the vegetable drawer and closed the refrigerator, walked to the sink , took a colander and set it in the basin.

"I'm open but don't forget a name will follow you for the rest of your life, Loki." She tried to put emphasis on his name but he just looked at her and she sighed. "Hand me a knife."

He took a knife from the butchers block on the table and stood beside her as she chopped up the onion under the running water.

"I have always liked Fenris, it means fierce. The ancient legends say I was to have a son by that name, and I say, so be it."

"And what would you call him for short?"

"For short?" She laughed at his puzzled expression,

"A nickname, my father calls me Sarah Bean…I mean it really doesn't convey what I'm trying to say…ok, the name Frederick, we'd call someone Fred for short. Make sense?"

Realization dawned on his face, "Ah, so you would call him Fen?"

Sarah nodded, paused. "Fen, I like that better than Fenris. Okay, it's a possibility."

"No Sarah, it is a definite."

She rolled her eyes, "Okay then, Fenris…I'll have to think about a girl's name, give me time."

He watched her put onions and butter into a pot she'd placed on the stove and turn on the burner. After a few minutes, she put the hamburger into the pot and started to break it up. Loki stood behind her, his arms about her waist, chin on her shoulder as he whispered in her ear,

"I would be as happy in this life should we capture this day and play it out into years, for I fear the coming tide, my love. I wish that I were able to push it from my mind now."

Sarah looked out the window over the sink at the lake glistening in the late afternoon sun, "So do I, I've been wracking my brains for the next move. Find a job up in Maine? Go to Canada? And what about you? The minute you're captured on video, or a camera somewhere, they'll be on us so fast, you'll never know it."

Loki hugged her tighter and she put her head back against him, "Let's just enjoy the rest of the day and worry tomorrow, please."

He nodded, "As you wish, M'lady."

The lamp posts on the dock gave a soft yellow glow to the boards below her feet. She looked back to see Loki, a towel around his waist, straight behind her. She looked out across the black expanse of water, then up and down the shore line surrounding them. "I guess it's safe, I hope it's safe." She let the towel around her drop to the boards and sat at the edge of the dock, her feet dangling in the water.

"Oh shit, it's cold," she hissed, but Loki never heard her, a pale flash beside her head and he was surfacing, sputtering, laughing. He glided up to her with long even strokes and she was struck once again by his beauty and grace, the contrast of his pale skin with the dark clarity of the water. He floated in the water at her feet, his hands curving around her calves, "Coming in?"

"Give me a minute to adjust, gee."

He smiled and pushed away from the dock, diving under and resurfacing again. "It has been many years since I have done such a thing as this."

"Swimming? Really? I try to go every summer a few times though this summer has been busy." She eyed him and he winked at her.

"Do you regret it?" He dove under the water and came up beside her.

"No I don't."

He pulled once more on her calves, "Join me."

She took a couple deep breaths and slid into the water, ducking under quickly and kicking her feet until she broke the surface, "Oh damn," Her teeth started to chatter together, "Whose good idea was this?"

"I believe yours," He floated beside her and she could see the blue green iridescence of his eyes reflected in the torch light off the water,

"I can't help it, I have to say it. Did you know you're beautiful?"

He chuckled, reached out to her beneath the water, "I daresay that should be my line, should it not?"

She dove under the water and came up near the dock again, "I'm not beautiful. I've always been plain."

He glided to her, "Your chestnut hair, your eyes of darkest ebony, your smile, your grace, your strength, should I continue on about your beauty?"

She splashed water at him, "Shameless flatterer." He splashed back and they played like children for the next five minutes, laughing, squealing, clutching, kissing as she hung on to the ladder on the side of the dock.

"It's getting colder, let's get out and go get warmed up." She gave him a look as he followed her up the ladder. She handed him his towel, "Don't want the neighbors to have a heart attack."

Loki grinned and wrapped the towel around him, took a few steps and stopped. Sarah had headed to the house first and was startled to see him standing half way up the yard, his face serious.

He had seen him, had seen Thor. He was here on earth. He had been at her parent's house in Rutland. He could read Thor no matter where he was. A bond developed so early in life could not be broken so easily even if that bond had been stretched to the limit.

"You okay?" Sarah watched him continue up the yard to the porch. He nodded, gave her a small grin and a pat on the behind.

"I am fine, you mustn't worry so."

"Alright, so I worry tomorrow right?" She crooked a finger at him, "Tonight there's nothing but us."

Their lovemaking that night was far different from the lust driven session in the shower that morning. It was bittersweet, intense, achingly so. They had lain curled together in the afterglow, talking, one of her favorite things about him, the euphoria, the joy that followed always seeming to unhinge his jaw, bring out the romantic he was meant to be. He had rubbed her stomach, wondering about the babies, how they would look, she had wiped the tears from his face, soothed him, until the clock read one in the morning.

She lay there, her chest rising in even shallow rhythm as she slept, her face placid, relaxed. He got up out of bed quietly and paced the room, then slid on his jeans and went downstairs.

Sarah shifted a little, felt her wrist hit something and she tried to move it out of the way. She was immediately aware that she couldn't move either hand, felt something akin to a bracelet around her wrists. She opened her eyes, could see Loki wrapping a length of rope around one of the bedposts and she tried to yank her hands towards her,

"Loki, this had better be some new kinky shit you want to try." She struggled to wake herself further,

He said nothing, only tightened the rope again, securing it finally to the bedpost, "Loki, damnit, what the hell are you doing."

"I am saving your career, maybe your life." He stood up from the bed and she pulled furiously on the rope, frantic now.

"What are you going to do? Where the hell are you going to go?" she yelled at him, her voice starting to break, "Loki don't do this, please?"

"I shall call your parents from that store, I will tell them where you are and they will send someone to get you."

She was sobbing now, pulling at the ropes, "Please Loki!"

He put his hands atop his head and squatted to the floor, "Sarah, listen and mark what I say. There will be no end, we will run forever. Thor will not rest, nor will Fury until I am returned to them. I am wanted and they will expend every resource to find me. I would not have you suffer as I and to that end have I done this."

He stood up, leaned over and cupped her face with his hands, kissing her, brushing the tears that were now streaming unchecked down her cheeks, "I love thee, Sarah," his voice broke at the last.

"Loki, take the rest of the money in my wallet. You'll never get anywhere without something in your pocket." She was starting to shake uncontrollably.

"I will manage."

"Oh god, Loki, don't go." She whispered, staring up at the ceiling as if in silent prayer but when she looked again, he was gone and her body shook as she screamed her anguish to the walls.

He put his hands to his ears but it was no use. The sound had long since ceased to be audible. He had been walking for fifteen minutes and yet could still hear her thoughts. He hadn't thought it was possible to hear a heart break but he was in fact privy to just such a thing at this moment. He could scarce keep his feet moving so great was his own despair. He stopped along the road, leaning against a tree, face in his hands. How selfish could he truly be? He had done what he did to save her but he could not save himself in the bargain. He looked up the road, then back the way he'd come from. Time was running out. He glanced forward again, groaned, then turned and started at a jog back for the cabin.

Sarah had been working her wrists to try and free them, receiving nothing but a rope burn for her effort and she was beginning to panic that he'd be gone too far for her to catch up with if she took much longer. She had tried to bring her feet beneath her so that she could sit up but the ropes were too taut.

She heard the door downstairs open and started tugging harder, stopping when she saw Loki come through the bedroom door and approach the bed. He pulled the rope at one post, releasing both wrists and was met with her fists pounding his chest as she rose from the bed,

"Goddamn you! What the hell were you thinking? Why are you here?" She screamed at him, the strength going from her legs as she knelt to the floor in a new freshet of tears.

He reached down and lifted her from the floor, "Gods, Sarah I could scarce walk. The pain was too great for me to bear. I cannot live without you, go where you will, I will follow to the end of the nine realms."

She could barely catch her breath, felt him hug her, spasms wracking his body as he mingled his tears with hers.

She put her hand to his face, "Don't do this again, I love you, let me make my own choices and my choice now is to run with you as far and as fast as we can."

He nodded, gasped, a smile playing around his lips.

"Come on, as soon as I get dressed we have to get out of here."

By one that afternoon they had crossed the state line into Maine. They got onto the I-90 interstate thirty minutes later and were soon headed north towards Bangor and destiny.


	18. Chapter 18

Friday evening found Sarah and Roxanne at Jackie's house on Water street in Ellsworth. Jackie smiled when Sarah walked in. "I remember you."

"And I remember you. How are you?" Jackie gave her a hug.

"Well I'm doing alright thanks to Roxanne. I'm looking for a new look and I'm going to be looking for a new job soon."

"Did you ever finish nursing when you went to New York?" Jackie pulled a bottle of wine out of the refrigerator, "Would you like a glass?"

Sarah nodded but Roxanne shook her head, "I'm driving, coffee would be great though."

Jackie got two wineglasses and a coffee cup down from the cupboard. "So what do you do now?"

"I work in an office in Manhattan. I've taken an extended leave with my boyfriend and I'm thinking about finding another job."

Jackie handed her the glass of wine. "Oh, what's so bad about the job?"

"Loki and I.."

"Loki?" Sarah nodded, waiting for the inevitable.

"Okay go on."

Sarah did a double take at Jackie who shrugged, "What?"

"I usually get an earful when I say his name."

Jackie shook her head and waved a hand at her, "Last week I got a guy and a girl in the parlor for purple and green dye jobs and their names were Spud and Target..legally changed too, so nothing shocks me."

"Well Loki and I had an office romance going and got in trouble for it so I decided it was time to clear out."

Jackie led Sarah to the sink and pulled the salon chair she kept at home, up in front of the basin. Sarah sat down and let Jackie put the long cover around her neck.

"Lean back, just like that. So this guy is worth picking up stakes for?" Jackie looked up at Roxanne who nodded and smiled.

"Yeah he is, he's one of a kind, thank god. I've given myself two weeks to decide what we're going to do. I'm working helping Roxanne with the cabins while we're here."

"And doing an excellent job I might add." Roxanne patted her hand as she walked by on her way to the coffeemaker.

"So he worked there in the office as well? You're both in agreement?" She started the water in the sink, adjusting the temperature.

"No hesitation whatsoever."

Jackie whistled, "You two must have it bad. Matt was over the romantic scene years ago."

"Where is that man of yours anyway?" Roxanne cut in, standing beside them, a coffee cup in her hand while she waited for the machine she'd set up to finish brewing.

"Oh he's out at his pool league. I told him to go with my blessings so we could have a girl's night."

Jackie set Sarah up and toweled her hair gently. "Now here are the samples I have, which color do you want? I think with your hair color, you could take it to a light russet."

Sarah looked at the sample for a minute, then nodded. "Perfect, and I would like it just above my shoulders."

Jackie clucked her tongue, "And all that beautiful length, as I say in this business, it's your head."

Thomas stood in the kitchen listening. Maia had finally stopped fiddling in her crib and it was quiet. He sighed, walked to the fridge and pulled out a beer, unscrewing the cap and taking a long drink. He carried the remains of the bottle into the living room and turned on the TV, flopping down on the couch.

The job in Bar Harbor had been hard work owing to the material the customer had requested and the size of the island they'd wanted in the kitchen. The house was a million dollar home and everything had been imported so they had to be particularly careful in their measurements, installation had been like surgery. There was no skipping down to the hardware store for the big stuff if they messed up. He had left Loki Thursday and today to paint the baseboards in the garage so they could install them this weekend and he'd done a particularly good job. It had been good to work with Dean because they could banter and joke, with Loki, words were like pulling teeth. By Wednesday, he'd learned to deal with the silence, only bothering to comment on Loki's work if he seemed to be doing something wrong or if Thomas wanted it done a certain way.

He drained the rest of his beer, barely paying attention to Wheel of Fortune, and got up for another, stopping at the fridge. He glanced towards the front door, shook his head and pulled out a beer, shut the fridge and started back into the living room, finally returning to the fridge, opening it again. He pulled out another beer, tucking it into the crook of his arm, opened the front door and headed down the steps.

Loki was sitting cross legged on the bed, a book in his lap, the knock on the door startling him. He stood up and peered out the front window to see Thomas standing there in the tungsten glow of the cabin's outdoor light. He opened the front door and looked down the steps at him, "Yes?"

Thomas cleared his throat and held out the beer, "Want to come over to the house for a few beers? The girls are having their night. I've got a few six packs in the chillabrator."

Loki stared at him until Thomas withdrew the beer, "Ah, okay, well I'll leave you alone then." He looked down at the pavement, nodded to himself and started to walk away.

"Chillabrator?"

Thomas spun around, "Yeah its Roxanne's cutesy term for the refrigerator."

Loki walked down the steps, a bit hesitant at first, like a deer approaching a salt lick. Thomas held the bottle out to him, watching as he opened, closed the hand at his side, then reached out and took it. Thomas smiled, "Come on, let's go kill a few brain cells."

Loki stood in the kitchen nursing the barely touched beer in his hand, watching Thomas start his third bottle. Thomas stopped mid swallow, "Oh no, I've got a head start on you." He walked up to Loki and took hold of the bottle in his hand,

"You'd better drink this, I'm not going to clean it up." And tapped the top of the bottle with the bottom of his own, laughing at Loki's look of surprise as the beer immediately started to foam up to the top. "Put it in your damn mouth and drink!" Thomas cried laughing a bit harder as Loki was forced to down half the bottle in one long draught.

"Don't they drink where you come from?" Thomas pointed his bottle at Loki, nodded and took a long swallow.

Loki rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth, "Yes."

"One word…you've got a vast vocabulary my friend." He motioned to the table where he pulled out a chair and sat down.

Loki put a hand on the chair before him but didn't pull it out.

"Oh come on, I swear I'll do all the talking, I usually do."

Loki pulled the chair out, sitting down and resting his elbows on the table, a vise grip on the bottle of beer. Thomas shook his head, "It's okay, you can relax."

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I find it difficult."

Thomas pushed away from the table, went to the refrigerator behind Loki, grabbed another bottle and set it before him. "Try more beer."

Sarah sipped her wine, wrinkling her nose at the fumes of the dye, looking over the shoulders of Roxanne and Jackie as they scrolled through Jackie's parlor website. "This girl, she had extensions put in for her wedding, her hair was to her neck and we made it down her back."

Sarah pointed at another photo, "I can see the basic colors but why would anyone want their hair electric blue?"

Jackie shrugged, "It's not my cuppa but hey if they're paying me to do it, I'll make a rainbow down their back." She turned and looked at Sarah, "Are you done baking yet?"

Sarah bent down to Jackie and she looked at a piece of hair, then at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Yeah you're done. Come with me."

"I wonder what the boys are doing?" Roxanne mused as she continued to look at the pictures on the website.

"I can guarantee Loki's sleeping already. He's a morning person." Sarah said as she leaned her head back in the sink.

Five empty bottles sat before Loki, seven before Thomas. Loki was leaning back in the chair, arm slung over the back, beer in the other hand.

"So you met Sarah when you two worked in New York, right?" Thomas gestured towards Loki,

"Yes, I worked in an abominable mail room, I was ill suited for the job. 'Twas a nightmare."

Thomas took another gulp of his beer, "What did you do, go to finishing school or something, you talk like you're to dinner with the Queen of England."

Loki narrowed his eyes at Thomas, "It is the manner in which I was raised, your habits of speech seem base by comparison."

Thomas held his hands out, "And the same holds true for me. I was raised out west, you know, Big Sky country."

Loki cast him a curious look.

"Montana?

"I have heard of it."

Thomas smiled, "Yeah it's too big to miss, so are you an only child?"

Loki's face darkened, "I have a brother,"

"What's his name?"

Loki looked away, "Thor."

"You're serious? Your parents really had a thing for mythology didn't they. I can't imagine school was none too easy."

Loki shrugged, "Not at all, we fit right in."

Thomas nodded, "Oh yeah, you went to school in Europe didn't you?"

"You have an overabundance of questions." Loki muttered.

"And you need another beer, or are you going to let an old man drink you under the table?"

A slight smile crossed Loki's face and Thomas applauded, "Get another one out for both of us, this one's gone warm."

He watched Loki look at the beer then at him, "Slide it over to me."

Thomas did as he was told, sliding the beer into Loki's hand. The glass on the outside which had beaded with condensation started to glaze over, ice crystals forming on the outside, frosting until Loki pushed it back towards Thomas, who was currently sitting there, mouth wide. He picked up the bottle and drained it. It was ice cold.

"Well hell and be damned, you're a mutant too! I knew there was something different about you!"

Loki canted his head to the side in confusion, "A mutant? Too?"

Thomas reached out his hand, Loki taking it gingerly. Thomas shook it. "I'm one of the unmentionables as well." He held up a finger, opened his hand, palm out and the empty bottle slid across the table to Loki who caught it before it fell to the floor off the edge.

"That is why I could not read you." Loki exclaimed excitedly, as it was Thomas's turn to stare at him.

"Read me? What do you mean?"

Loki tapped his head with a finger, "I could not read your thoughts, your mind is like glass to me, like a mirror, reflective but unfocused. I have seldom met a person I could not get the upper hand upon and when I could not read you, I was taken by surprise. I did not know how to act around you because I could not gauge your thoughts."

Thomas sat watching Loki in his eureka moment, "I think those are the most words I've heard you say in one full breath this entire week."

Loki was smiling now, "I had thought there was something wrong with me, that by being sick, I had lost the ability to read people."

He turned in his chair, swung open the door to the fridge and took out two more beers, sliding one to Thomas, "Skoal!" He said raising his beer to Thomas who raised his own in return, "Slainte."

Sarah looked at herself in the mirror, well pleased.

"I love it," Jackie fluffed and brushed a couple more times, "Tres sexy." She glanced at Roxanne, "What do you think?"

"Will Loki recognize you?"

Sarah laughed, "He'd better."

"Okay that'll be a favor to an old friend, to be taken out in trade at a later date or at such time as her husband wants to ply me with his amazing cooking."

Roxanne rolled her eyes, "I'll tell Thomas dinner is on him next. We gotta get going, it's getting late."

Sarah smiled at her reflection, "Thank you again, I feel like a different woman."

"You say that you have fits and fever when you use your power? You could train yourself to focus this energy. The potential is vast with the right teacher, I have no doubt. If only I knew of someone in this realm that could help you."

Thomas laughed, "Realm, I love it. You come up with the greatest words. I already know where to go but I've got no interest in it. I have my family and my job and my home," He ticked the reasons off on his fingers, missing one or two in the process, "And I'm happy. Why develop something I don't intend to use?"

Loki put his hands to his head, "If you do not develop your potential, you cannot protect your family when you need to."

Thomas shook his head, sorry for it almost immediately, "Protect them from what?"

"Everything, anything. I would lay down my life for Sarah."

Thomas put a hand to his chest, "I would do the same for Roxanne and Maia."

"Then you should seek out these teachers, where be they?"

Thomas held a finger to his lips, "Shh, Roxanne hates to hear me talk about it."

Loki glanced around the room, movements exaggerated by the beer, "She is not here."

"Oh yeah, okay…I went to a concert in Portland with Roxanne's cousin Patrick last summer when Roxanne was pregnant and in the hotel I met a couple of mutants who gave me information where I could go. There's a mansion near Salem Center in Westchester County, New York. It's Xavier's school for gifted youngsters, translated loosely, mutants."

"And this school is home to people with powers such as ours?" Loki drained the last of his beer.

"Yeah, I went there for a week to see it. Roxanne was so against it, she was afraid I wouldn't come home."

"Women are such tenuous beings. They break down at the merest touch, yet they are strong enough to bear us children, rise up and go about their work as if nothing had happened."

"Now that's deep. Get another beer so we can toast again!"

Roxanne pulled into the driveway and parked the car. Sarah stepped out and looked towards the cabin. "See I told you, the lights are off, I'm heading over. I'll talk to you in the morning. Thank you again, I feel like a new woman." Roxanne gave her a hug then trotted up the front stairs, Sarah jogging across the parking lot to the cabin.

Roxanne opened the front door, surprised at the fact that the kitchen light was still on. She stopped short at the front desk and stared at the scene before her. In the middle of the kitchen table were at least a dozen and a half empty beer bottles. Loki was sitting, his back to her, hands in the air, talking animatedly to Thomas who seemed rapt by whatever he was saying. She advanced into the kitchen, slowly until Thomas saw her and cried, "Roxanne! Guess what, he's a mutant too!"

Roxanne turned and stared at Loki who was now looking up at her with a wide grin. "Watch what he can do,"

Sarah opened the door to the cabin and looked at the bed which was empty, the bathroom light which was off and then turned and trotted back down the stairs heading over to the house where she took the front steps two at a time nearly knocking at the door until she heard the voices inside. She cracked open the door and slid through, catching sight of Loki's back sitting at the kitchen table. She stood there listening,

"Here, take this." Thomas handed Roxanne a bottle, the beer half gone from it, "Go ahead Loki, show her."

He shrugged, put his hand to the beer. Roxanne squealed and quickly put it down on the table as the ice crystals crept up the side of the bottle.

"He's got other talents too!" Thomas caught Loki's eye, tapped his head and gestured towards Roxanne.

Loki looked at Roxanne who had been glaring at Thomas and now looked back to Loki, thinking to herself at the worst possible moment, "Jesus another mutant, no wonder she's on the run"

Loki's smile faded, "Another mutant indeed," He started to delve deeper, "You seem to be surrounded by them." He'd been about to say more but the hand at his shoulder caught the words in his throat. He turned to look up at Sarah who squeezed his shoulder almost painfully hard.

"Can't leave these men alone for a minute."

Loki turned back around, sharing a castigated look with Thomas.

"I think you've both had enough to drink," Roxanne started to pick up the bottles from the table and line them up by the sink.

"Come on, get up." Sarah took Loki's arm and tried to haul him from the chair, his height making it almost impossible to keep him completely steady. She glanced at Roxanne who looked at her, to Loki and back to her.

"I'll be over in the morning when I get up, Roxanne."

She nodded, finally giving her a half smile, watching them as Sarah guided Loki down the front stairs. Roxanne closed the door behind them and stomped back into the kitchen where Thomas sat, leaned back in the chair,

"I've just got one question. Am I in trouble?"

Roxanne walked past him, through the living room and into the bedroom where she shut the door.

"I'm in trouble."

Sarah had to literally pull Loki up the stairs of the cabin. When he was finally inside, she slammed the door behind them.

"Ok you've now officially told them more than they need to know." Sarah took her hoodie off and tossed it in the chair.

"She is your friend, why would you not want her to know in the first place?" Loki tried to stand up to face Sarah, couldn't.

"Because the less they know, the less they can be coerced into telling others"

Loki lay back on the mattress, "So you do not trust them?"

Sarah sighed loudly, "It's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of knowing how SHIELD goes about getting its information." She sat down on the bed beside him and lay back as well.

"I am sorry, I have let the mead loosen my tongue, forgive me, my mate. I felt the spirit of kinship with this Midgardian."

"And I wanted you to, It's partly my fault. I left myself open with a false sense of security, the thought that we might be able to stay here safely."

He turned his head towards her, "I like your hair."

"Mmmm, don't know what good it's going to do us."

He gazed back up at the ceiling, "She knows we're on the run."

It was Sarah's turn to stare at Loki, "How do you know?"

"I read her like Thomas requested of me. I simply read her at the worst possible time."

Sarah laced her hand into Loki's, "We're going to have to do some talking tomorrow."


End file.
